Alan Henry on the struggle facing the sport’s famous old tracks to keep up to scratch
The organisers of last month’s European Grand Prix have denied that their race’s place on the Formula One (F1) calendar is under threat from the projected introduction of a Moscow grand prix. The Nrburgring authorities, who announced significant modifications to their circuit’s layout in time for next year’s race, insist the track has a long-term future as a world championship venue and will continue to host grands prix for the foreseeable future.
However, coming hard on the heels of Silverstone’s announcement of a 40-million makeover in time for the 2003 British Grand Prix, the Nrburgring organisers’ defensiveness underlines the growing pressure on F1’s traditional European venues to invest heavily in upgrading their facilities, or risk losing multimillion-dollar grand prix contracts to newly constructed venues in more far-flung locations.
China’s new circuit in Zuhai is tipped to host a grand prix before long, and circuit planners in Dubai have also held talks with F1’s commercial rights controller Bernie Ecclestone about hosting a race. With the sport’s governing body, the FIA, reluctant to sanction more than the current maximum of 17 races, established European fixtures may be sacrificed.
Together with the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, the Nrburgring has been mentioned as a possible casualty since plans for a Moscow grand prix projected to join the calendar in 2003 at the earliest were announced in May. “We’re carrying on until our present contract expires at the end of 2004,” said a Nrburgring spokesperson. “We’re not under time pressure to get a new contract just yet.”
The present, “new” Nrburgring circuit carries a weighty heritage. Regarded by many as a bland and uninspiring facility, it first hosted anF1 race in 1984, eight years after its “big brother” was removed after the ferocious accident in which Niki Lauda almost burned to death in 1976.
The old, 122.5km Nrburgring was regarded as the ultimate challenge in motor racing, an almost primeval contest in conditions where as Lauda discovered the slightest slip could have disastrous consequences.
Safety considerations, and the fact that a race lasting a mere 15 laps of an ultra-long circuit offered poor value for the fans in the grandstands, sounded the death knell for this last epic motor racing adventure. In the wake of Lauda’s accident it was an understandable reaction, but since then F1 has become preoccupied with the race to have the flashiest corporate boxes, best pit facilities and safest tracks often at the expense of the drama and excitement of the old circuits.
As at Silverstone, the Nrburgring modifications are at least an attempt to provide better entertainment for the paying public in an era of little overtaking in the sport. For next year’s race, the circuit’s organisers plan to incorporate an extra half-mile loop curve behind the pits, designed to enhance drivers’ possibilities of passing other cars.
Many of the most up-to-date circuits have been designed or modified by Hermann Tilke, the Stuttgart-based architect who has specialised in racetrack design for the past decade.
Tilke is responsible for the impressive Sepang circuit in Kuala Lumpur and the revisions to the old Osterreichring now known as the A1-Ring which has been home to the Austrian grand prix since 1997.
“We are obviously constrained by the FIA safety regulations, in terms of specific elements such as track width and run-off areas, but with that in mind we are still trying to make our designs good for overtaking,” said Tilke, who started his engineering office 18 years ago when he retired from active racing.
Tilke immediately adds a rider that his company deals not only with the track layout but also the entire supporting infrastructure.
But he maintains these other considerations are not clouding his efforts to ensure tracks can offer exciting racing. “In terms of our circuits, we want to have overtaking. That means variations on the layout of a fast corner leading on to quite a long straight and then into a tight corner for outbraking. But we don’t want every track to look the same.”
The developments at Silverstone and the Nrburgring come at a time when an increasing number of circuits are looking nervously over their shoulder, trying to anticipate what will be required for the next round of upgrading.
Max Mosley, the president of the FIA, and Ecclestone have proved relentless and uncompromising in their efforts to get circuits to improve safety and corporate hospitality an increasingly significant factor in this highly commercial era.
And then there are the political considerations. In 1986 the Hungaroring hosted the first Hungarian Grand Prix a landmark event, as it was also the first race to be held in eastern Europe. Despite numerous criticisms of the tight nature of the circuit and limited facilities, it remains a firm fixture on the calendar, largely because of the international prestige it brings to this former eastern bloc state and to the sport.
Similarly, China has been angling for a grand prix for several years. Its Zuhai circuit has already hosted an international sportscar race, and there is speculation that a grand prix could fulfil an ideal role in setting up the country’s image in advance of the 2008 Olympic Games.
Yet many would argue that the Nrburgring in particular, its current layout offering a pretty dismal spectacle for spectators, represents a stark reminder of how the sport’s priorities have become compromised.
The challenge for the future will be to balance safety and security with ensuring that the essential magic of F1 competition is not further diluted.