Hockenheim, a venue as synonymous with motorsport as Monza, Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps.
You hear the name you immediately think of the ‘Stadium’ section crammed with passionate German fans with their Michael Schumacher or Sebastian Vettel flags and memorabilia.
Sadly, however, the other memory you have is the circuit that held its final race an incredible 15 years ago now.
For long-time Formula One fans like myself, that is an amazing thought.
I still remember the 2000 race as if it were yesterday. Schumacher crashing out at Turn 1, McLaren dominating until a man decided to take a stroll.
The rainstorm and Rubens Barrichello having enough pace on the dry tyres out in the forest to counteract the sodden Stadium and two silver cars on wets.
When he crossed the line to take his first F1 win, having started 18th, to the tears of joy on the podium, that race alone was enough to make Hockenheim one of my favourites.
Two years later, however, that track was gone. I remember seeing the plan for what we still refer to as the ‘new’ Hockenheim in a magazine. I was 12 years old at the time, certainly I was upset, maybe even cried.
I didn’t even know the history that stretched back way beyond that 2000 classic. I just remember the crazy cars with their wafer-thin wings hurtling down those curling straights with the V10 scream echoing off the trees.
To say I miss the old Hockenheim is putting it mildly, I guess it’s why I enjoyed that two-kilometre straight in Baku a little too much than maybe I should have.
Corners are cool. Eau Rouge is cool, 130R is cool, Copse, Maggotts, Becketts all cool, but to watch an F1 car at top speed with any engine singing makes the hair on my arms stand up.
But just to throw a complete curveball into all this, do I hate the ‘new’ Hockenheim? Really the answer is no.
I enjoy the one curling straight into a heavy braking zone, that’s kind of reminiscent of the old track. And while the Stadium section may be easier now, thanks to the cars running higher downforce, it still has all the history and is a fun little sequence of corners. It also has more character than most of its modern counterparts too.
The only thing that stops me loving it as much as say Spa or Silverstone, is the narrow gap in the trees that still exists just behind the barriers at Turn 2.
Now, after 420 words you want to know what my mixed feelings towards Hockenheim have to do with the title of it being the ‘epitome of modern F1’.
Well, giving this some thought and just thinking about it as I write this, really it’s more than I ever first imagined.
Originally I was considering how the business approach of F1 had led to a sport that was once great, being slowly whittled away into a shell of what its former self.
That’s also true at Hockenheim because it was the growing demands from Bernie Ecclestone for a higher race fee that led to the death of the original layout.
The circuit had to downsize to reduce costs, improve safety and increase the amount of spectator space to generate higher revenues.
Indeed it is applicable to the German Grand Prix as a whole. Nurburgring has also had to try and find alternative revenue streams to cover the increased costs of hosting F1.
It was what led to the alternation between the two circuits and the cancellation of the race last year.
But then I also thought about the sport as a whole and how those same feelings about Hockenheim also apply to F1.
We loved the old recipe of V10’s, V8’s, big grippy tyres and the best drivers in the world racing wheel-to-wheel.
Now though we have a new recipe. V6 hybrid power, DRS and the safest racing cars ever to be created.
It’s still F1, it’s just an updated version that takes some getting used to.
Is DRS really that bad? No, in the same way, the long straight into the hairpin isn’t that bad.
Is the V6 rumble that intolerable? No, much like how the technical corners of the current Hockenheim are still an interesting challenge.
Is modern Formula One that different that you can’t watch it anymore? Well if you’re reading this article you haven’t switched off yet.
So there you have it. One is the pinnacle of motorsport that sometimes has to change to remain relevant, the other is one of its greatest venues that ultimately had to do same.
All things considered, however, we would much rather have the old of both back!
