Chassis

The Nürburgring has a reputation as a ‘complete' circuit: it includes high speed corners, medium-speed chicanes that upset the car balance and some very slow corners with high traction demands. The R26 will need to meet all of these challenges this weekend.

Aerodynamics: The Nürburgring is one of the highest-downforce circuits of the season. We usually find ourselves trying to control understeer at this circuit, except perhaps in turn 8 where the car is always nervous. However, the high downforce level allows us to compensate for that, and make the car more driveable, and stable during the changes of direction and under braking.

Tyres: Tyre choice is always tricky here owing to the variable weather conditions, and the fact that temperatures can be very cool. As always, we will be looking to find the best compromise between a tyre soft enough to give good single lap performance but which may risk some graining, and a harder tyre that will last well, but not offer the same performance. Generally, rather than taking the risk of a hard prime and a soft option, we choose two tyres according to possible weather conditions, with for example a prime for cooler conditions and an option in case the temperatures are higher.

Braking: The brakes will not be a problem at this circuit. We will monitor them closely, but there is no reason to think that wear levels on the discs and pads would be abnormally high, as the braking zones are not particularly severe.

Engine

Atmospheric pressure: Located in the Eifel mountains, the Nürburgring is at an altitude of roughly 500m above sea level. The lower air density means the engine generates less power (approximately 5%) but also reduces the loads on some parts such as the pistons.

Circuit configuration: The layout of the Nürburgring does not contain any intrinsically severe demands for the engines. The flowing layout includes elevation changes which make the circuit enjoyable for the drivers, but the high number of corners means the time spent at full throttle is just 66% of the lap. The engine needs to pull strongly from low revs to launch well out of the slow corners, but there are no particularly long straights, with the longest single period at full throttle being just 10s, a low value for the season.

Over-revving: While the layout of the Nürburgring is not intrinsically severe, the circuit is bumpy in a number of places, notably turns 4, 7 and the chicane at turns 13/14. If the drivers take the wrong line, this can potentially damage the engine by either excessive use of the limiter, or over-revving. It is a point that is studied with some care during practice to avoid any problems in qualifying or the race.