This is already one of my highlights of F1 in 2007. Nick Heidfeld drove his F1.06 around three laps of the Nurburgring Nordschleife.
There’s a three-minute video of parts of the laps which you can see below. Surely someone at BMW will have the sense to release the full onboard footage? It would be a waste of a fine PR effort if they didn’t…
Seeing the car in action around the track makes you realise a few things. The obvious safety shortcoming of the original Nurburgring compared to modern circuits is just one of them.
The other is that it makes you realise how bland and flat so many current F1 tracks are. The Nurburgring has an enormous range of undulation and camber, and configurations of different corners leading one into the other.
There’s no reason why modern F1 circuits couldn’t replicate some of the corners and complexes on the Nordschleife, but with adequate run-off. It’s a pity they don’t. I hope Hermann Tilke is watching.
Pictures: Nick Heidfeld on the Nurburgring Nordschleife
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Robert McKay
7th May 2007, 19:54
In the fashion of the age-old question “how many monkeys with typewriters would it take for one to write the complete works of Shakespeare?” , how many circuits will Hermann Tilke have to design before one of them is as good as the old Nordschleife?
Fancy a 4 million-race calendar, Bernie?
Terry Fabulous
18th July 2008, 13:39
The Istanbul Otodrom will be Hermann’s legacy. What a track. But still not a patch on the old ring.
Bartholomew
16th July 2009, 20:46
Extraordinary !!
I absolutely love these vintage flashbacks
Thanks Keith lets have some more
Joe Papp (@joepa)
26th April 2013, 3:09
Very cool.
It’s fun discovering some of these old F1Fanatic posts by @keithcollantine, before he was famous!
marcusbreese (@marcusbreese)
7th October 2020, 9:31
I came here from the RaceFans Round-up, awesome to see an F1 car tackling this beast of a circuit.
I would love to see Mercedes have a pop at the lap record – it would really put their glut of downforce and driveability to good use.