Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, Nurburgring Nordschleife, 2007

F1 on the Nurburgring Nordschleife would be a “dangerous adventure” – Seidl

RaceFans Round-up

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In the round-up: McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl doubts anyone is likely to tackle the Nordschleife in an F1 car soon.

What they say

Timo Bernhard, Porsche 919 Tributew, Nurburgring Nordschleife, 2018
Timo Bernhard broke the Nordschleife course record for Porsche
Seidl was an engine engineer for BMW when Nick Heidfeld took a heavily-adjusted BMW Sauber F1.06 around the full Nordschliefe layout and as Porsche WEC team principal oversaw the 919 Tribute project which set a new lap record on the circuit:

I have great memories doing the record lap with the Porsche LMP team on the Nordschleife some years ago fantastic track, a fantastic history.

But I think at the same time, it’s also clear that it is a track which is dangerous. If you will go there flat out with the Formula 1 call, it is a dangerous adventure and I’m not sure if any one is ready at the moment to try that. And for McLaren, that’s not a topic at the moment.

Of course it was it was a sensational event for everyone in the team because of all the history around this track, it’s a fantastic track. I think it was a very emotional thing also for everyone involved in this project or this lap when we did it. I think it was a very emotional thing for Nick to do. That’s the memories I have, awesome lap – I don’t remember the lap time!

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Comment of the day

Dave says it’s unreasonable to compare the past of F1 with its present champion because like the car technology, athletes and race craft have radically improved over the series’ 70-year lifespan:

Agree with those who say “most successful” is the best way to describe Hamilton. What gets missed is how he operates. He drives like a combination of Senna and Prost, and has Schumi’s team motivating skills. If a team mate beats him he spends a huge amount of time studying how and improving so he has a Vettel like ability to do work. A combination of Senna, Prost, Schumi and Vettel is a pretty powerful package. Rosberg has also commented on his ability to go right up to the limit in battles.

What I am intrigued to see is whether his on track skills can match Verstappen and the young guns who seem to hang it out round several corners when fighting for position. Not seen Hamilton do that for some years now. Regardless, he is one of the best and like any sport, the athletes of today are far far better than their historical counterparts, which is why it’s not fair to compare different eras.
Dave

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Author information

Hazel Southwell
Hazel is a motorsport and automotive journalist with a particular interest in hybrid systems, electrification, batteries and new fuel technologies....

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17 comments on “F1 on the Nurburgring Nordschleife would be a “dangerous adventure” – Seidl”

  1. Looking forward to Ilott.

  2. I agree with the COTD except for What I am intrigued to see is whether his on track skills can match Verstappen and the young guns who seem to hang it out round several corners when fighting for position.

    It’s Verstappen and the other young up and coming drivers who need to show they can match Hamilton. He’s on his way to his 7th WDC he’s proven his on track skills.

    1. Maybe they have the skills, but we’ll never know until they have the car.

  3. Gutierrez wasn’t troubling many of those apexes in that video was he…

    1. @geemac Some of them he failed to hit, yes.

  4. Sucks about less indycar ovals. First motor race I ever went to was indycar at kentucky speedway. Always thought the racing was good but obviously not the popular opinion on here.

    1. @ppzzus I’m with you! And yes, there doesn’t seem like a lot of love on Racefans for ovals, which is to be expected I guess when it is a British/Euro-centric site. I’m British by the way but I clearly remember when my love for ovals was born – the incredible final 15 laps of the 2000 Michigan race on the superspeedway – Andretti vs Montoya dueling wheel to wheel, so intense.

      I also attended the 2001 and 2002 Rockingham CART races. Again, I clearly remember the first time I saw the cars in action, lapping at an average speed 216mph – I was sat at Turn 4, as near to eye-level with the cars as I could be and I have the image and sound of Christian Fittipaldi screaming into and round the corner flat-out. Awesome.

      1. Actually that first race I went to had one of the closest finishes ever, 0.0098! Grandstand finish. Probably the bug that bit me.

    2. As f1 has got further and further from ‘wow’ and ‘jeez’ so the unreconstructed terror of oval racing gets more attractive, for some reason especially when I watched Alonso do it. I love it and wish there was more and I was definitely in the camp of turning my nose up at it until recently. Certainly the lack of power steering and the noise at least for the next 2 seasons makes it exciting. Hoping to go in 2022 before they go fully quiet.

    3. @ppzzus When I was first getting into Motor sport in the early 90’s I initially hated the ovals as I had that ‘Just turning left is easy/boring’ dismissive mindset which I think a chunk F1 fans seem to have.

      A few things saw my opinion change though. The first was the 1992 Indy 500, Watching all that build-up & spectacle wowed 8 year old me & I was glued to the TV over the final laps & Al Unser Jr’s emotional post race interview really got across how big & special that race is. Was also a few really good oval races over the next few years (New Hampshire 1993 for instance).

      I also came to understand oval racing better & how the different type of oval & differing characteristics of each track require different tactics & strategies that create a much greater challenge than I think many think.

      It’s a shame they are moving away from ovals, I kind of get why but I still think it’s unfortunate given how much I enjoy that type of racing in Indycar. I know there is NASCAR but i’ve just never been able to get into that series in part because of how show/gimmicky so much of it feels. There is also some of the short track USAC stuff which I do watch every now & again but that also just doesn’t hook me in the same way the Indycar oval racing does.

  5. The return of Spitting Image has been long overdue. They always get it bang on!

    1. They certainly did there. Important to be able to poke fun at ourselves and this is the perfect medium

      1. Given that Lewis is driving a Ferrari in that clip….

    2. Really? Ive seen a number of clips and its not even on the level of schoolboy humour. And oh look, some sexual innuendo; snigger, snigger. The original had some of the sharpest minds in comedy working on it; this version is about as subtle as a sledge hammer.

      1. The peas are good tonight dear.

  6. But fun for us!!

  7. No surprise that this site chose as the COTD the most OTT one where Hamilton is said to be the best part of the best drivers and far far better than anyone before.

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