18/07/2011
NEWS STORY
Sitting in the shadow of the majestic 22km Nurburgring Nordschleife, the modern day 'Ring is definitely the poorer relation. But as modern circuits go, the 5.148km track has its merits. It has a couple of good overtaking places; there's a quick chicane (the Schumacher 'S') that requires commitment from the drivers and the atmosphere will no doubt be excellent now that there are two German World Champions on the grid.
The cars run with maximum downforce, so aero efficiency is vital. And you can never discount the weather in the Eiffel Mountains, even in July; rain is never far away.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: Nurburgring is a high downforce track with lots of challenging corner sequences, some off camber turns and kerbs. Set-up will be focussed on the slow and medium speed corners. We have a new rear wing, front wing and revised engine mapping for the exhaust blowing on over-run that has now been reinstated.
Rubens Barrichello: Nurburgring is very special to me as I won there for Ferrari and I really like the track a lot. The circuit has a lot of camber changes and so it is pretty difficult to get the best car set-up, but that just makes it all the more interesting. There is normally a chance of rain as well which adds another element into the mix. The corner onto the back straight is one of the best in my opinion. I hope we can have a good performing car this weekend and I will be giving my very best to score some points.
Pastor Maldonado: The Nurburgring is always amazing to visit because of its history, the combination of different technical corners and the fans there. I hope to improve on our last result and be more competitive, especially in the race. The second sector is my favourite part of the track as it has high speed, very technical corners. I first raced at the Nurburgring in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2006 and qualified on pole but I had problems in the race. I also raced at the track during my time in GP2, scoring my best result of fourth in 2007.