German GP preview - BMW WilliamsF1 Team
German Grand Prix - 27/28/29-07-01- PREVIEW
The Grand Prix circus will visit Germany for the second time this year when
it descends on the Hockenheim Circuit at the end ofJuly. Germany has a great
wealth of racing history and obviously the race will be another special one
for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team, as this is the one nearest to BMW's Munich HQ.
This will be the 49th German Grand Prix and the 25th at the Hockenheim track,
which is equidistant from the industrial town of Mannheim and the beautiful
tourist spot of Heidelberg. WilliamsF1 has won seven German Grands Prix,
which includes a hat-trick in '91, '92 and '93. It also has special memories
for BMW Motorsport Director, Gerhard Berger, as it was here in'97 that he was
on pole, set the fastest lap and won the race for the final time in his
Formula 1 career. This is a track where the team cannot test, so its
preparation this week has been at Monza, a track with similar
characteristics, for a four-day test.
Ralf Schumacher
"It's my second home country Grand Prix this season and I will be looking
forward to the unique atmosphere in the motodrom, which is like driving in a
football stadium. Hockenheim is not particularly exciting from a driver's
point of view, but there are some good overtaking opportunities. The most
difficult thing is to achieve the right car set-up, as you have to find
enough downforce for the twisty motodrom section and high speed for the long
straights. As long as it doesn't rain we should be well prepared for this
race."
Juan Pablo Montoya
"I have always finished well at Hockenheim, although sometimes I have not
qualified as well as I would have liked to. This will be my third visit there
and so it should improve my knowledge of the track. The Monza test has been
extremely useful for us because our performance in Germany will depend on
many of the factors we see at Monza, such as the importance of fuel levels.
All in all, we have a good car and should be competitive there."
Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer)
"Hockenheim is the lowest downforce circuit, putting a premium on engine
power and aero efficiency. Set-up-wise the car requires something a bit
different to enable the drivers to be quick through the chicanes and the slow
motodrom, but also to handle the long braking after the straights. Tyre
selection will be crucial and Michelin are taking two tyres that we know.
Rear tyre degradation is usually an issue here, but it may be less so this
year thanks to traction control. It is a circuit that no team tests on so you
have to react quickly during the practice sessions, particularly with tyre
compound choice. Strategy is usually quite predictable, but last year the
race was won here by quite a different approach, although helped by rain and
a safety car. Our drivers will be looking forward to plenty of overtaking
opportunities because of the long straights."
Dr. Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director)
"The high-speed Hockenheim circuit, with its long straights, should suit us.
The season so far has shown we are very well-prepared in terms of engine
power, and engine-wise Hockenheim is the most demanding circuit. There is a
high proportion of driving under full load and the use of high revs for a
long time as well. For this reason Hockenheim is the reference circuit for
our engine on the test bench. We have had a very intensive test at Monza,
where we worked on further development of engine functions and prepared
ourselves for Hockenheim using the characteristics of the Italian track,
which are similar."
· This will be the 49thGerman Grand Prix and the 25th at the Hockenheim
track. The race has also been held at the Avus circuit once and the
Nurburgring 23 times. Germany and Italy are the only two countries to
currently host two Grands Prix - thanks to the San Marino race in Italy and
the European Grand Prix in Germany - but while there have been a total of 56
races held in Germany, in terms of numbers it comes a poor second to Italy
where there have been 72. The 2000 race did not come second to any other in
terms of action as it was perhaps one of the most exciting and dramatic on
record with both wet weather and a French interloper on the track playing
their part. At the end of the race all the damp was not from the rain, as
first time GP winner and Ferrari driver, Rubens Barrichello, cried
unashamedly on the podium. Although Barrichello started 18th his tactics were
superb with him staying out at the end of the race in wet conditions on dry
tyres. The circuit is 4.242 miles (6.825 km) long and the 45-lap race will be
190.879 miles (307.125 km) long. The race will start at 14.00 local time
(12.00 BST) on Sunday, 29th July. The lap record was set last year by
Barrichello with a time of 1m 44.300s (146.376mph/235.570km/h).
Ralf Schumacher # 5 JuanPablo Montoya # 6
Nationality German Colombian
Born 30 June 1975 - Hurth, (Ger) 20Sept. 1975, Bogota (Col)
Marital status engaged to Cora Brinkmann single
Lives Salzburg (Austria) MonteCarlo (MC),
Oxford (UK)
Height 1,78 m 1,68m
Weight 73 kg 72 kg
F1 debut 1997, Melbourne, Australia 2001, Melbourne, Australia
Best qualifying 2nd: 2001 Brazil, Canada 2nd: 2001 Austria
Best GP fin. 1st: 2001 San Marino, Canada 2nd:2001 Spain,
European
GP starts 77 11
Points 2001 31 15
Total points 117 15
Fastest laps 4 1
2001 FIA F1 Championship
Qualifying Race Qualifying Race
Australia 5th DNF 11th DNF
Malaysia 3rd 5th 6th DNF
Brazil 2nd DNF 4th DNF
San Marino 3rd 1st 7th DNF
Spain 5th DNF 12th 2nd
Austria 3rd DNF 2nd DNF
Monaco 5th DNF 7th DNF
Canada 2nd 1st 10th DNF
European 2nd 4th 3rd 2nd
France 1st 2nd 6th DNF
Great Britain 10th DNF 8th 4th
Media contact:
WilliamsF1
Ann Bradshaw
ann.bradshaw@williamsf1.com
Tel: +44 79 772 75 838
BMW
Guido Stalmann
Tel: +49(0) 170 5666 112
guido.stalmann@bmw.de
###
Sylvia Proudfoot
spur07@cs.com
403 287 3945
