Hockenheim is another one of those historical circuits that just feels right. These days it shares its place on the calendar intermittently with the Nurburgring Grand Prix circuit which, if you ask me, is a small concession if it means we get to keep both tracks on the calendar.
This is a once again a circuit with Lewis Hamilton’s name all over it yet it was not kind to him on session one of Qualifying as a right front brake disk failure sent him onto the barrier and taking him out of the rest of qualifying.
Rosberg was never really threatened after Hamilton’s crash posting a time of 1:16.540 on his first run in Q3 to take his fifth pole position of the season. He will start alongside Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas who improved on his final lap and was up on Rosberg through the first two sectors before finishing 0.219s shy of pole.
Felipe Massa starts third as Williams displayed the sort of pace that worried Mercedes in Austria, while McLaren rookie Kevin Magnussen delivered an excellent final lap to take fourth place. Daniel Ricciardo again out qualified Sebastian Vettel, with the latter a second off Rosberg’s pace.
Qualifying Results
2. Valtteri Bottas Finland Williams-Mercedes 1m 16.759s
3. Felipe Massa Brazil Williams-Mercedes 1m 17.078s
4. Kevin Magnussen Denmark McLaren-Mercedes 1m 17.214s
5. Daniel Ricciardo Australia Red Bull-Renault 1m 17.273s
6. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 17.577s
7. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 17.649s
8. Daniil Kvyat Russia Toro Rosso-Renault 1m 17.965s
9. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Force India-Mercedes 1m 18.014s
10. Sergio Perez Mexico Force India-Mercedes 1m 18.035s11. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 18.193s
12. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 18.273s
13. Jean-Eric Vergne France Toro Rosso-Renault 1m 18.285s
14. Esteban Gutierrez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari 1m 18.787s*
15. Romain Grosjean France Lotus-Renault 1m 18.983s
16. Lewis Hamilton Britain Mercedes-Mercedes no time Q217. Adrian Sutil Germany Sauber-Ferrari 1m 19.142s
18. Jules Bianchi France Marussia-Ferrari 1m 19.676s
19. Pastor Maldonado Venezuela Lotus-Renault 1m 20.195s
20. Max Chilton Briton Marussia-Ferrari 1m 20.408s
21. Kamui Kobayashi Japan Caterham-Renault 1m 20.489s
DNP Marcus Ericsson Sweden Caterham-Renault107% time: 1min 23.065secs
all times unofficial
* denotes driver due to take three-place grid penalty
Hockenheim
The original Hockenheim circuit was built in 1939 as a high-speed test track for Mercedes-Benz, who needed a venue to test for the Tripoli Grand Prix. It was almost eight kilometres long and was formed of two long, curved straights with a long corner at either end.
When war broke out the construction was halted and in the post-war years the Nurburgring became the venue for Formula One racing in Germany, with Hockenheim hosting a few smaller events. In 2002 the long runs through the forest were done away with and the layout of the track was heavily modified.
Despite arguments that it had lost some of its character, the first race at the new circuit was deemed a great success and the venue has remained a regular feature on the F1 calendar ever since.
| Race Date: | 20 Jul 2014 |
| Circuit Name: | Hockenheimring |
| First Grand Prix: | 1970 |
| Number of Laps: | 67 |
| Circuit Length: | 4.574 km |
| Race Distance: | 306.458 km |
| Lap Record: | 1:13.780 – K Raikkonen (2004) |
Images/track info/results: Crash.net, Formula1.com
Roger Baillie (@Rojn8r)
