The 2009 German Grand Prix will be the ninth race of the 2009 Formula One season. It will be held on July 12, 2009 at the Nürburgring in Nürburg, Germany.

Despite 6th place at the British Grand Prix, Jenson Button maintains a 23 point lead over Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello in the Drivers' Championship. Barrichello is 2 points further in front of Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel, winner of the British Grand Prix.

Brawn GP have a sizable lead of 30½ points in the Constructors' Championship with Red Bull Racing in second place. Toyota are 30 points behind the Austrian drinks company team, with only Force India yet to score a point.

For years Michael Schumacher fans flocked to Hockenheim and the Nurburgring to support their idol. Now the German fans have a new hero to follow, in the shape of Red Bull's mercurial youngster Sebastian Vettel. In front of his countrymen Vettel will be more determined than ever to take the fight to Formula 1 World Championship leader Jenson Button.

Tickets for the 2009 German Grand Prix can be obtained here.


German Grand Prix History

The German Grand Prix was a round of the first ever Formula 1 World Championship in 1950. At that time the race was held on the daunting Nurburgring Nordschleife, which wound its way for more than 14 miles through the Eifel region of northern Germany. The 2009 German Grand Prix takes place on a modern incarnation of the track, which lies adjacent to the old one.

The 1957 race at the old Nurburgring produced perhaps the greatest fight back in Formula 1 history, when Juan-Manuel Fangio relentlessly pursued the Ferrari pair of Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins. After continually lowering the lap record Fangio caught and passed his prey to score a remarkable victory.

Jackie Stewart was the man to watch in 1968. In torrential rain and blinding spray the Scotsman won in his Matra by over four minutes. The old track's swansong came in 1976. Niki Lauda's Ferrari speared off the circuit and erupted in a fireball. Lauda's fellow drivers stopped and rescued the Austrian but he was terribly burned. Despite receiving the last rites Lauda eventually recovered and went on to win the Formula 1 title twice more.

Hockenheim became the permanent home of the German Grand Prix. It fast forest section was unique in Formula 1, although it has since been reclaimed by nature to make way for a more concise layout. The German Grand Prix will now alternate between Hockenheim and the Nurburgring.


2009 German GP Statistics and Weather Forecast

Race date: Sunday, July 12th
Race distance: 60 laps
Circuit length: 3.199 miles (5.148 km)
Nurburgring Lap record: 1 minute, 29.468 seconds (Michael Schumacher, 2004 - Ferrari)


2009 German GP weather forecast

Click here for the Nurburgring Weather website


Real-Time Weather

2009 German GP Form Guide

Before the last Formula 1 race at Silverstone Brawn GP would have been clear favourites to take victory at the Nurburgring. That was until Red Bull appeared with several updated parts and proceeded to dominate the British Grand Prix. Local hero Vettel will undoubtedly attract very short odds, while his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber should also be in a position to challenge for victory.

It is well known that the Brawns do not like cold temperatures, and the Eifel region can be highly unpredictable. Rain would not be a surprise, which could suit several drivers including 2008 German Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton and Renault's Fernando Alonso.

Germany holds happy memories for Nelson Piquet, who has been struggling all year in his Renault. In 2008 the Brazilian scored the first podium of his Formula 1 career at Hockenheim. Ferrari disappointed in qualifying at Silverstone but showed good race pace and could challenge for a podium. Toyota will also be expecting points, along with Williams.


Circuit Data

Click here for Nurburgring Circuit Information



The Nürburgring has a reputation for being a ‘complete’ circuit in the sense that it includes a wide variety of corners. There are high-speed sections, medium-speed chicanes, and some very slow corners with high traction.

Overtaking is difficult but possible into the first corner and the chicane at turns 13 and 14. However, the weather is a constant concern and no matter what the season, rain and cool conditions are an ever-present threat in the Eifel mountains.

Aerodynamics
The Nürburgring demands some of the highest downforce levels of the season, not only for the numerous high and medium-speed corners, but also to maintain good stability under heavy braking for the first corner and the slow chicane of turns 13 and 14.

Fernando Alonso explains: “The left-right chicane of turns 13 and 14 is probably the best overtaking opportunity as it’s one of the biggest braking zones of the lap. If you are following another car closely, you can pick up a good slipstream on the approach and make a lunge down the inside. We take it at about 100 km/h in second gear and you need to be aggressive with the curbs to straight-line the chicane as much as possible and carry speed through the corner.”

Chassis balance
Corners such as turns 5/6, 8/9 and 10/11 in particular demand a neutral handling balance to avoid compromising the optimum line through the second corner in the sequence, and the engineers will often work through the weekend to dial out understeer in the medium-speed corners.

A quick, responsive change of direction is required in both the slow-speed section at the start of the lap, and through the quicker corners. Mechanical grip is particularly important through turns 1 to 4, but cannot be achieved at the expense of aerodynamic performance around the rest of the lap.

Fernando explains: “The run through turns 1 to 4 is not very exciting for the drivers, but we spend a lot of time in them and that means that any mistake is likely to be very costly, especially in qualifying. We need to be precise with our braking and keep the car under control all the time as too much understeer, oversteer or a missed apex will put you out of shape for the following corners. The car balance is never perfect at such low speeds either, so we are always fighting understeer in the very slow corners, and a nervous rear end when we accelerate away.”

Tyres
Tyre performance will, as always, be a critical performance parameter for all teams this weekend with Bridgestone providing the super-soft and medium compounds from its 2009 range. Ambient conditions will play a role in determining which compound is the preferred tyre for the race as we often experience cool temperatures at the Nürburgring.

Brakes
Wear on the brakes is not a major concern. None of the braking zones are particularly severe and there is no reason to think that wear levels on the discs and pads should be abnormally high as a result.

Engine
The Nürburgring is not a circuit that presents the engines with any extreme challenges, and its overall impact is further reduced by the fact that the circuit is situated at altitude, some 500m above sea level. This has the effect of reducing engine power by approximately 5%, while also reducing loads on certain engine components such as the pistons.

The engine is at full throttle for just over 64% of the lap – a value slightly above the season average of approximately 62%. The longest single period at full throttle barely exceeds ten seconds, so the main challenge for the engine team is ensuring strong performance from low revs so the engine launches well out of the slow corners, particularly turn 7 which leads onto the uphill drag to turn 10.

Nelson Piquet Jr explains: “We approach turn 7 downhill in seventh gear at almost 300km/h before braking and downshifting to third for the hairpin. It’s really important to stay online and hit the apex through this corner so that you can apply the throttle early on the exit to carry as much speed on the long drag back up the hill towards the high-speed chicane of turns 8 and 9.”

The circuit includes a number of elevation changes, but none are sudden enough to cause the engine systems any concern. The only note of caution is finding the best line through some of the bumpier corners, and particularly the chicane, to avoid spending too much time on the rev limiter, which is potentially damaging for the engine.

Videos

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