F190 Round 8 - 19/2/15

Qualifying session - 4:30
Race 1 - 11 laps - Q Grid - no safety cars
Race 2 - 11 laps - reverse race 1 results grid - safety cars until the start of lap 10 .



-History
After World War II, Germany had been seperated into Eastern and Western territories, and West Germany was banned from international sporting events until 1951. A non-championship Formula 2 race was won by Alberto Ascari in 1950 at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The German Grand Prix was included as part of the new Formula One championship in its second season. The Nordschleife was to be the mainstay of West Germany's premier motor racing event for the next quarter of a century, and was to be known as the toughest and most technically challenging circuit on the F1 calendar. An average of 375,000 spectators each year came to watch the event, it was very popular.[6] The 1951 race was one where Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio led for 14 laps; but he had to refuel his Alfa and he only had third and fourth gears left. While in the pits, he was overtaken by Ascari in a Ferrari and went on to finish second behind the Italian. Fangio won for the first time in 1954 in a Mercedes; the first time a factory Mercedes Grand Prix car had been taken part in 15 years. He won driving the new open-wheeled W196. This event also saw the death of Argentine driver Onofre Marimon in a Maserati 250F during practice. Due to lack of knowledge of the circuit, crucial to doing well at the Nürburgring, he failed to negotiate a tricky bend near the Adenauer Bridge. He went off the road, ploughed through a hedge and down a steep slope. The car sheared off a tree and tumbled down the slope. Once it came to a stop, Marimon was pinned underneath the 670 kg (1,480 lb) 250F; which effectively crushed his body. The hapless Argentine's injuries were bad enough to kill him a few minutes after the incident. His compatriot Fangio went to check the wreckage of the Maserati; he found it in fourth gear of four; this corner was normally taken in an F1 car in third gear. This proved the accident to be unfortunately driver error. The 1955 event was cancelled in the aftermath of the Le Mans disaster; all auto racing in Germany (and much of Europe) was banned until the tracks could be upgraded. Fangio would win the next two events.

The 1957 event saw a number of changes. It included a Formula 2 race which was run concurrently alongside the Formula One cars. The track had been resurfaced and the concrete road surface (which was in very bad shape) which made up the pit straight, the Sudkurve and the straight behind the pits was taken out and replaced with tarmac. The 1957 event is, like Nuvolari's 1935 victory, one of the greatest motorsports victories of all time. Fangio led for the beginning of the race in front of two Ferraris driven by Britons Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins. Fangio planned to refuel during mid-distance; and he did. The pit stop was expected to take 30 seconds. It was a botched one and it took 1 minute and 18 seconds. Fangio was now nearly a minute behind Hawthorn and Collins. He began a charge where he made up several seconds on each lap. He tore huge chunks out of the lap record, breaking it nine times. On the 21st lap (the second-to-last lap) he passed Collins behind the pits, then Hawthorn late into the same lap. The 46-year old Argentine won the race (his 24th and final F1 victory) and his fifth and final championship. 1958 saw the distance shortened to 18 laps; Briton Tony Brooks won. Collins crashed into a ditch next to the track, was thrown out of his car and hit a tree head first. He received severe head injuries and eventually died in a hospital near the circuit.

1959 saw the race go to the ultra-fast AVUS circuit in Berlin. This was the only Formula One race that took place there and was won by Brooks in a Ferrari. The AVUS circuit was now made up of two 2.5 mile straights, a tight left-handed hairpin at one end and a huge 43° brick banking constructed in 1937 on the other end, which was known as "The Wall of Death".[7] The straights could only go as far as 2.5 miles because if they went any further, the circuit would cross into the East Germany. Frenchman and prominent Formula One driver Jean Behra was killed during a support sportscar race driving a Porsche. He lost control and the Porsche went up and flew off the banking there, which had no safety wall or barrier of any kind. Behra was thrown 300 feet from his car and his head struck a flagpole; killing him instantly. Behra had been fired by Ferrari after an altercation in a restaurant with the Scuderia's manager shortly before his death.

1960 was a one-off Formula 2 race held on the smaller 4.7 mile (7.7 km) Sudschleife (South Loop) section of the Nürburgring. This race was given the title German Grand Prix because the German national car club (ADAC), the organizers of the race, had made the decision to run the race as a Formula 2 race at the Sudschleife because of complaints by some of the drivers (even by Stirling Moss, a champion of a certain amount of danger in motor racing) of the extreme danger, speed and even blandness of the AVUS track- which, as described above, had a very uncomplicated layout. In an indication of the rather cavalier attitude towards safety in motor racing in those days, the drivers felt the risk of AVUS was not worth it, they then refused to race there and the Formula 1 race was cancelled.[8]

For the rest of the 1960s saw nine Formula One events take place at the Nordschleife. The 1961 event was won by Briton Stirling Moss driving a privately entered Lotus. Moss was able to hold off the two powerful and faster Ferraris of American Phil Hill and German Wolfgang Von Trips. A clever tyre choice and skillful driving in wet weather conditions helped Moss to finish 16 seconds in front of Von Trips. The 1964 event saw Dutch gentleman driver Carel Godin de Beaufort die during practice after he went off at Bergwerk corner. His orange Porsche went through bushes, down an embankment and then hit a tree. He died from his injuries in a hospital near the circuit. Briton John Surtees won for the second year in a row from Jim Clark. In 1965 Clark won, his seventh Formula One victory of that season and won his second driver's championship in a Lotus. 1966 saw changeable weather conditions and a battle between Australian Jack Brabham and Surtees with Brabham taking victory. Briton John Taylor was killed after he hit the back of Belgian Jacky Ickx's Formula 2 Matra MS5 near the bridge at Quddlebacher and Flugplatz. Taylor crashed and his Brabham BT11 caught fire. He received severe burns, from which he succumbed to a month later.

In 1967 a chicane was added before the pits but the cars were already matching 1965 lap times. 1968 event was yet the scene of another great victory. This event took place in heavy rain and fog. Briton Jackie Stewart won the race by more than four minutes from Graham Hill; he was 30 seconds ahead of the second placed Hill by the end of the first lap. Stewart held the lead amid a driving rainstorm and thick fog.

Jacky Ickx won in 1969 driving a Brabham. The Belgian had made a bad start, clawed back through the field and after a long battle with Stewart, Ickx took the lead from Stewart on Lap 5. The Scot fell back with gearbox problems, leaving the Belgian in a dominant position. Stewart was able to hold on to second place. German driver Gerhard Mitter was killed during practice driving a BMW 269 Formula 2 car after his rear suspension failed and the car went straight on at the downhill section near the very fast Schwedenkreuz bend. This was the fifth Formula One-related fatality at the 14.2-mile German circuit in 15 years, the most out of all the circuits yet used for the championship.

1970 however was to start the demise of the Nordschleife for international motor racing. After the death of Piers Courage at the Dutch Grand Prix a few months previously, the Grand Prix Drivers' Association had a meeting at a hotel in London. Despite considerable pressure from outside parties they voted not to race at the notorious German circuit unless significant changes were made to the conditions. Speeds of Formula One cars had increased dramatically as had the technology. It became clear that the Nürburgring, which was essentially a rough, unprotected road that went through forests and valleys situated in mountains, was too dangerous and outdated for Grand Prix racing. The changes demanded by the drivers could not be made in time for the 1970 event, forcing a hasty switch to the Hockenheimring, which had already been upgraded with safety features. The race itself proved to be an exciting one, as it was won by Austrian Jochen Rindt, resisting a charging Ickx in a Ferrari.

1971 saw the race return to a modified Nürburgring. It was made smoother, straighter and was fitted with Armco barriers and run-off areas wherever possible. But with the layout being virtually the same as before, the circuit retained much of the character that led Stewart to call it "The Green Hell." It was less dangerous than it had been before, but the 'Ring was still the most technically challenging driver's circuit on the F1 calendar. It was still dangerously rough and narrow in many areas, and even though some of the worst jumps and windy straights (particularly at Brunnchen and the Antonius Bridge) had been smoothed over or made straight, there were still some big jumps on the track, particularly at Flugplatz and Pflanzgarten. Also, there were still some parts of the track that did not have Armco, but more of this was added through the years. The first event on the rebuilt Nordschleife saw Stewart win from his teammate François Cevert. The 1972 event saw Jacky Ickx dominate in his Ferrari and Stewart crashed on the last lap after tangling with Swiss Clay Regazzoni. The 1973 race was dominated by Tyrrell teammates Stewart and Cevert; and it was to be the 27th and last victory of Stewart's illustrious career. 1974 saw New Zealander Howden Ganley crash heavily at Hatzenbach, seriously injuring the Kiwi. Ganley had already crashed heavily at the Nürburgring the year before and he decided to end his F1 career after his 1974 accident. The race saw Regazzoni win after Austrian Niki Lauda (who had crashed and broken his wrist at the previous year's German Grand Prix) and South African Jody Scheckter tangled on the first lap; Lauda was out but Scheckter went on to finish second. Briton and multiple motorcycle world champion Mike Hailwood crashed heavily in a McLaren at Pflanzgarten and broke his leg, his auto racing career was effectively ended by this crash. 1975 saw Lauda become the only driver ever to lap the old Nürburgring in under seven minutes; the Austrian lapped the monstrous circuit in his Ferrari in 6 minutes, 58.6 seconds at an average speed of 122 mph (196 km/h), which was good enough for pole position. But like so many years gone by, the weekend saw yet another serious accident. Briton Ian Ashley crashed his Williams FW during practice at Pflanzgarten and he was seriously injured; he did not race in Formula One again for at least two years. Argentine Carlos Reutemann took victory while Lauda had a puncture after leading for nine laps. Briton Tom Pryce ran as high as second after starting 17th in an under-funded Shadow, but he finished fourth after very hot fuel began to leak into his cockpit. Frenchman Jacques Laffite and Lauda passed Pryce. Laffite finished second which was a milestone for Briton Frank Williams's struggling team; it was the English Williams's first real taste of success in Formula One. Pryce received a medal for his efforts. The 1975 Grand Prix was the fastest race ever run on the old Nürburgring; Lauda's teammate Clay Regazzoni posted the fastest lap at 7:06.4- which was to be the lap record of the old circuit.

Over the years, the Nürburgring was modified several times at the behest of the drivers. However, the 1976 event was one that was to go down in history. Lauda, the reigning world champion, was dissatisfied with the safety arrangements of the mammoth circuit and attempted to organise a boycott the race during a meeting at the third race of the season in Long Beach, California in the United States.[9] Formula One in the 1970s was the beginning towards a safer kind of motor racing and the Nürburgring was considered to be something of an anachronism at that time. However, by its very nature, the Nürburgring was almost impossible to be made safe in its old configuration. It did not have enough marshals and medical support to ensure the circuit's safety. It needed five times the marshals and medical staff that a typical F1 race needed at the time, but the German organizers were unwilling to provide them. Additionally, its geography made the modifications demanded by both the drivers and FIA prohibitively expensive. There were several parts that were nearly inaccessible to the marshals. There were a number of places where run-off areas could not be built because they were not flat enough, too narrow, too rough, etc. However, the Nürburgring's organizers had a three-year contract with Formula One starting with the 1974 race which included making the track safer. Lauda was outvoted by other drivers because most of them felt that they should complete the contract so as to avoid any legal difficulties; the 1976 race was the last race on that contract. Although the contract included making the circuit safer over those years (and the organizers did that) it had already been decided that the 1976 race would be the last race at the Nordschleife. In addition to safety issues, the increasing commercialization of Formula One was a factor as well. The extraordinary length of the Nordschleife made it all but impossible for any broadcasting organization to effectively cover a race there.

As the 1976 race started parts of the circuit were wet and other parts were dry and bathed in sunlight, another classic problem of the Nürburgring. After pitting to change from wet to dry tyres at the end of the first lap, Lauda came out again, far behind the leader, West German Jochen Mass. While pushing hard to make up time on the second lap, Lauda crashed at the fast left hand kink before Bergwerk corner over six miles (10.8 km) into the lap, one of the more inaccessible parts of the circuit. Going through the corner, Lauda lost control of his Ferrari when its rear suspension failed. The car crashed into a grass embankment and burst into flames. During the impact, Lauda's helmet was wrenched from his head, and his burning Ferrari was hit by the cars of Brett Lunger, Arturo Merzario and Harald Ertl. Lunger pulled Lauda out of the burning wreckage instead of the ill-equipped track marshals, who only arrived at the scene well after the impact. The resilient Austrian was standing and talking to other drivers right after the accident and his injuries were initially not expected to be serious. However, he had been severely burned and had been breathing in toxic fumes, which damaged his circulatory system. He later lapsed into a coma and nearly died, putting him out of action for six weeks. The event was red-flagged and restarted; long-time Grand Prix driver Chris Amon elected not to take the restart. This was the last Grand Prix the unlucky New Zealander drove in. Englishman James Hunt won this race, which turned out to be crucial for his championship chances that year. After 49 years of hosting the German Grand Prix the old Nürburgring never hosted a Grand Prix again, and the race returned to Hockenheim.