2006 GERMAN GRAND PRIX
HOCKENHEIM - PREVIEW
Round twelve of the 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship,
the German Grand Prix, takes place at Hockenheim this weekend.
The fourth of this season's five sets of back-to-back races
sees the F1 calendar move to Germany and then Hungary before
the now traditional summer break at the beginning of August.
Since the French Grand Prix, the Honda Racing F1 Team have
completed a successful test in Jerez to prepare for the next
three races, concentrating on chassis and engine developments,
further development of the aerodynamics package first used
in France and intensive tyre evaluations in preparation for
the three hot races coming up in Germany, Hungary and Turkey.
The German Grand Prix will also mark Honda's 300th Grand
Prix since the company first entered Formula One in 1964 as
a works team. Since then, Honda has been involved in three
generations of F1 participation: 1964-1968 as the initial
works team, 1983-1992 as an engine supplier and from 2000
supplying engines to the then B*A*R Honda and Jordan teams,
before taking 100% ownership of the Honda Racing F1 Team for
the 2006 season.
In over forty years of F1 participation, Honda has won 71
races, taken 173 podiums and 77 pole positions. The Honda
Racing F1 Team will be hosting a party in the F1 paddock on
Friday evening to celebrate the 300 milestone, welcoming drivers
and partners past and present, along with the F1 media, as
a thank you for all the support the company has received over
the years.
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"My first victory in Formula One came at the Hockenheimring
back in 2000 so this circuit is very special for me, even
though the layout changes mean that it is a different venue
now from the track that I used to enjoy so much. It's still
a good circuit for the drivers and the fans however, because
overtaking is possible, particularly on the long straight
with late braking, which can make the racing more exciting.
Your car needs to work well at Hockenheim, and with the hot
and humid weather that we usually get, it can be a particularly
challenging race for the car and the driver."
JENSON BUTTON
"Hockenheim is a circuit that I always enjoy and I have
some great memories from previous races here after finishing
on the podium in 2004 and 2005. There are some decent overtaking
opportunities around the circuit and I enjoyed a good battle
with Michael Schumacher for third place last year. It will
be very difficult to achieve a similar result this time but
testing went well in Jerez last week and we hope to see an
improvement in our performance in the next few races."
GIL DE FERRAN
Sporting Director
"Hockenheim is one of the more historic circuits that
we go to, and it is quite appropriate that we celebrate our
300th GP at such a venue. Although the track layout has changed
over the years, one main characteristic remains: it is a track
quite conducive to overtaking, regularly producing great races.
It is an interesting combination of slow and medium speed
turns which, like the previous few races, will provide many
challenges for us to cope with, particularly temperature and
stresses on the rear tyres. Both our drivers have done well
there in the past, and so has our car, which is always positive.
We were encouraged by the test in Jerez last week and it seems
that we have made a step in the right direction. Hopefully
these results will translate well for the weekend."
Hockenheimring, Germany
Race Distance 67 laps
Circuit Length 2.842 miles (4.574 kms)
Reopened in 1966, after the original oval was cut in two
by the construction of an autobahn, Hockenheim was radically
changed again in 2002. The legendary sweeping forest straights
were removed in place of a tighter, more modern layout that
boasts a much larger spectator capacity. The result is a track
that is almost unrecognisable from its predecessor with dramatic
reductions in both speed and length, but considerable improvements
in safety. Opinion on the circuit is still very much divided
among the drivers and teams.
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