Why The Hockenheimring is Abandoned in a forest
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- Опубликовано: 20 июн 2023
- The Hockenheimring is one of Formula 1's most famous circuits with a history dating back to 1932. But today, most of the old track layout sits abandoned in a forest. Why did this circuit change so much? And how big of a role did safety play during the Hockenheimring's time in Formula 1? The circuit still exists but the current layout is much different to what it used to be. The old forest section sits abandoned and partially torn up in a forest, and still to this day, many people prefer the original Hockenheimring. Enjoy!
#F1 #Formula1 #Hockenheimring
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The security was always a joke at Hockenheimring. My dad drove after the race with a local over the track to avoid traffic. They where stoped asked what they doing. They said they are from RTL and collecting TV cable and passed (1994)
Oh my god, that‘s actually hilarious (i‘m from Germany)
Mad lads!
in 1994 the world wasn't the same. Going to F1 with Thursday ticket and remaining inside the trackpad the whole GP (Monza), same in Imola, installing a tent on Thursday in the Hill of rivazza with peoples self building structures. i went back in early 2000 and there was a steward every 100 meters checking tickets..80's and 90's will never come back.
@@sfacco These were better days indeed.
That's a funny story.
Hockenheimring was such a great track. It's a shame it's been abandoned, but hopefully one day it'll be restored to its former glory.
HAHAHAHAHA. You legit think the Greens and eco-hippies are gonna let that happen?
Cut down a forest for a "polluting" race track.
Europe is lost, with regards to this kind of dreams.
We would need a revolution to overthrow the EU and commit some serious sudoku on the environmentalists for that.
Sadly it’ll never happen since they planted trees on the old layout and Greta thunberg would have a fit if they cut down trees to restore a legendary racing circuit
@@jacobpapa9192 Man.... She is just living rent free in your head huh? @AzureKite says literally nothing about the climate (or trees) and your first thought is GrEtA tHuNbErG!! Baha...
@@NTCAMACKu took his comment literally lmao
There was an article today; FIa is approaching Germany for a new German GP
The story I know goes a bit differently. Nobody forced Hockenheim to be changed. The thing was that the entry fees for the tracks were already getting more and more expensive back then and the track operators simply wanted a shorter track where they could put up several new grandstands on top of that in order to sell more tickets. Safety and maintenance costs for the long forest sections also played a role, of course.
The Safety of Bernie's and shareholders profits were at stake rather than track safety.
@@RSA169no, the local government took that decision
And with that, they killed the circuit. It went from one of the best on the calendar to one of the worst. Now no GP at all there 🤷♂
It was kind of forced cause FIA demanded money, money the organizers could not get without re-designing the track. FIA also wanted a huge share of advertisement profits, so a 45 lap race with no advertisement in the forest was a reason the track no longer exists in it´s high speed configuration. So yeah, they were indirectly forced.
@@bowlchamps37 Not really. The operator of the Hockenheimring and the state of Baden-Württemberg thought Schumi-Mania would go on and on in Germany for ever and wanted more spectator seats and revenue at the Ring. As a result, the track was shortened and virtually turned into an uninteresting Mickey Mouse course. This made the circuit unattractive overall and Schumi-Mania was also over at some point. That was very short-sighted. For example, the Red Bull Ring in Austria is sold out without having an Austrian driver. Mainly due to the Dutch fans of Verstappen. With today's technical means, you could also market the long forest section better and show it to the local people. More cameras, big TV screens, etc.
It is a shame that this amazing track has been killed off. The sight and sound of the V10s and V12 of the 90s running flat out through the forest, it was an amazing track. A classic, that should have been kept.
Some of the best racing at hockenheimring was in World Superbike and 250 & 500 Grand Prix. Along with earlier F1
You people with you V10s. Is there anything else you ever talk about? Its pathetic.
sometimes as a kid visiting my grandparents a town near hockenheim, we were able to hear the v10 engines from kilometer distance
100% the sound of those V10s and V12 going through the Forest . Can only imagine being there in person always remember being excited when it was on TV
Better than the plethora of boring street circuits we have today
It's very sad that is abandoned tbh. It was a very interesting scene racing in the forest. Also it produced some of the most iconic moments in F1 History.
The closest thing to racing in forest in modern F1 is Nürburgring, Imola, Montreal, Spa & Monza
@@FurryestX spa more so than any other track you listed tbh
@@FurryestXMontreal aint a forest lmao
@@FurryestX There is no part of the Nurburgring GP circuit that looks like you're in a forest
@@grahamreece519 Well it is the Nordschleife part. But since that part is only kept for endurance racing I kinda agree.
2002 was a terrible shock to me. No one told me they were changing it and it was my favorite track in F1 World championship on N64. I was furious. Excellent tribute.
Memories ❤👌🏽
I hope you're ok.
I remember playing the game.
Yeah, I still remember going through that forest in video games.
Driver Williams 😁
The old Hockenheimring layout was a true engine track, so as long as the car have a strong engine, will be competitive there, which is one thing that really miss from the tracks in the current calendar.
So it's NASCAR....Wow amazing.....
I think Vegas will fix that itch for you😂
@@dc-vw4qm ignorant comment
So we hate the vegas gp layout but we like the old hockenheimeing layout?
@@tibiceltareF1 fan activities
Man, I remember how Ruben Barrichello winning that race in 2000 coming from 18th place. It was still the huge track with sweeping tree lines.
He realized there was rain only in one section and decided to not pit for rain tyres. Chad moment from him.
I remember that as well.
@@RafitoOoORubens saved Michael's lead for the WDC then and was so happy Rubens carried the team.
I remember that race too! Such an amazing race from Barrichello! also there was a protester that invaded the racetrack causing the safety car to come out. I remember the late Murray Walker proclaiming “there’s some loony on the racetrack” in his iconic voice.
@@adubbya1776 Yup, they came from the forrest. Man I miss those days
Super iconic track layout back in the day. A shame it was neutered and even bigger shame it's not on the calendar anymore.
With the stupid short layout it's not a big loss
Google it, there’s negotiations for the German GP to be added back as soon as 2024
@@carguy_rz this new layout is still better than 80% of the current f1 tracks...
@@LukasZ_77why? I dont see it
@@nolliejay73 then open your eyes lol it's a good track to drive and it produces entertaining races...it just lucks a bit of the uniqness the old layout had but other than that it's very good.
With every track in F1 being so full of curves, Hockenheim was a breath of fresh air. The grandstand was also wonderful to watch as the crowd would rise in anticipation of the cars coming into sight. On other circuits they stick stands anywhere, mostly as an afterthought. The cars themselves were front and center of the race. On TV it shined--must have been one of my favourite circuits to watch.
I don't share the excitement for less curves. Less curves means less interesting, challenging, and entertaining. Like RBR now.
Sounds like drivers didn't like it much either.
I can understand why they did for safety but watching on TV, seeing those cars zooming down deep through the forest was an awesome sight.
fck safety if you want a safe sport try bean bag toss..
the twats who think safety is the most important ( it isnt if they didnt have to pay money when people were hurt they wouldnt care how much carnage there was) ruin EVERY sport
they ruined almost all the racing sports only Rally and Formula drift are still real car sports
the rest are just rich twats twisting the rules until only money can win
I actually visited the site on a very foggy November day two years ago. Had a great walk in the woods trying to trace the old track and found the hidden Jim Clark memorial. Would recommend!
They never moved it?
Can you just walk into the old track?
@@kevinW826 Nope, it's been consumed by the forest.
So the track is now mostly consumed by the forest?
@@perakimatt Yeah, the tarmac is destroyed.
It breaks my heart, to see this legendary track covert with grass. It was like german Le Mans, high speed, the ultimate engine test for formula 1 cars. I miss this track so much.
=WELL THEN,IT STILL COULD VE BE RETURNED TO A FORMER GLORY,HEHE
.........BUT..............THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO ENDEAVOR FROM AUTHORITIES TO DO SO AS GERMAN AUTOSPORT IS WILTED AND WHAT'S ABOUT VW IS TRYING,IS ABOUT STILL ABOUT ON EXISTING TEAMS
It's greatly missed. In these days we have a lot of tracks with 20 corners or so. Hockenheim would have been a breath of fresh air.
This is what Hermann Tilke said about the track reconfiguration: *“The original idea was just to broaden the existing track according to current safety regulations, and to keep the track to its original length. At that time the restrictions and possibilities the site offered were not clear however and the idea eventually proved unfeasible.”*
Plus the costs of maintaining such a large venue was a major factor in the track layout change.
The greatest thing about the old track was the different set ups required.
It was a gamble that teams needed to make, and made for great racing.
Are you saying you could gamble to be fast in the Motodrom and suffer of the rest of the lap?
Nobody ever did that 🤦
There was no gamble. Pretty much everyone went for maximum speed, since it was very difficult to overtake in the stadium. Only if you started in first and were 100% confident you could hold your rivals in the forest you could go for higher downforce, but I doubt it ever happened.
You forget about refuelling and pit strategies. If you can plan around being in slip for most of the first two thirds, you might get far enough ahead by a high grip setup. I wouldn't choose it though.
This is the one track I truly miss,so many amazing races there. I am a huge Hakkinen fan so I think there's one overtaking move that ranks right up there as one of the greatest ever! 👌
Which 1s that I can't think of many super Mika overtakes bar the one at Spa of course
I was there from 1999 to 2002 and on my first visit I had a ticket for the first chicane, after the first full-throttle straight. At that time there were still these wonderful high-revving V12 engines. Needless to say, even getting there during a training session was completely insane: those engines shrieked, howled, banged and thundered so hard you thought it was war and a supersonic jet flies by while a main battle tank fires. Every time my hair stood up with joy and I got goosebumps. Before braking for the chicane, the drivers shifted down the gears and the misfires made the F1 cars bang so hard that the earth shook. David Coulthard set a new speed record for this track and we were the happiest people in the world because that sound was so awesome. It smelled of burnt rubber, of burnt oil-petrol mixture and the air was flirty. F1 was so loud and dirty back then, nothing compared to today. And really no one was worried about the environment or had a bad conscience. Man I miss those times.
Great comment, 100% ACK, apart from V12 engines, which were last used in F1 in 1995. So what you will have experienced were 3.0 liter V10 engines because V8 engines were also out of F1 at that point.
I remember watching Barichello win the 2000 gp like it was yesterday.. such a beautiful place to race, the view of the forest, half track wet from the rain and the other half dry, what a race, I truly miss it.
The view from your television 🤡
Ask the fans at the track what they saw from it.
Nothing!
I will never forget his Podium celebration. Pure golden emotion..
I remember it too. I think Michael Schumacher crashed at the first corner right after the start of the race.
@@NathanieI87 yeah, coulthard pushed him a bit wide and fisichella didn't expect it and crashed into michael
=ME TOO,HEHEHEHE
..............JUST A SPLENDID DRIVE AND STRATEGY,HEHEHE....
Grew up a few kilometers away from Hockenheim and been there for a couple of events. It's always been amazing to hear the engines on race weekends while sitting in front of the tv and watching the race.
And it's a shame what they did to the layout. Loved the old long circuit but I can't get used to the new layout.
I remember watching a couple races in the late 90s and thought how cool it was that they were driving in a forest.
That was my first good impression of the track as well together with Spa... that you could drive through forests. Iconic.
I used to live in Hockenheim and in the 80's it was great to walk into the forest taking a campinchair with you and find a good place to watch and HEAR Senna, Piquet and Prost in the Turbocharged F1 Cars.
Was a great time
I used to have a racing sim game that had the old Hockenheimring circuit. I loved that track. My favorite part was coming out of the forest section and entering the stadium sections at full tilt. I wish I could remember the games title.
Could be Grand Prix 4? i still have that game, was my first F1 game for pc. ruclips.net/video/ueLmXnA62n0/видео.html
Possibly F1 Challenge 99-02? I played the old configuration a ton in that game
Total Immersion Racing? the most funny thing is that the game was released in 2002, when Hockenheimring had already used the new layout ;)
Geoff Crammond formula one grand prix, that was my F1, it's went i was really into it, knew all the circuits, it's still how i think of a F1 season those where the tracks
@@recarsion Yeah the earlier F1 games had the old Hockenheimring layout before it was ripped up and removed. The only modern game I know of that still has it is Project Cars. It's still my favourite track to drive.
I miss Hockenheim so much. It deserves another go 😢
I miss the big, old circuits of the early days. I'd love to see races that take four or five minutes a lap instead of the one and a half minutes we get now.
But that's what made them dangerous. When Niki Lauda had his fiery crash in 1976 it took 75 seconds before the first safety car to arrive with extinguishers. It was simply impossible to have safety marshalls every 200m of less.
@@ivanjulian2532 You are right. There would be significant cost to have the circuit staffed to the requisite modern standards. I think F1 could afford it. It's just a whim, in any case. I don't think the movers and shakers would be keen.
@@DuckReach432 the long classic circuits are sorely missed - by me too. Especially the 14km original Spa Francorchamps. But the drivers themselves made them disappear as much as anyone.
@@ivanjulian2532the original Spa killed too many drivers. Stewart was right to boycott it, and by the way, the "new" Spa is far more demanding.
But Hockenheim wasn't that long. Even with the chicanes, pre ground effect F1 lapped it at 1 min 50 something.
Sometimes it's spooky. Yesterday I googled some things about Jim Clark and planned to visit his memorial at the Hockenheimring. And less than 24 hours later you come up with this video.
First of all: I think Germany needs an F1 Grand Prix again. We don't have a driver who can win the championship but I think the German F1 Fans are growing again.
I loved the old Hockenheimring for its uniqueness but not for the layout. Another point was that Michael Schumacher had some bad luck in Hockenheim, that's why anticipation wasn't that high back then 😀
he was on pole, had the fastest lap and won in the 2002 race tho :D
@@cay7809 That was the new layout in 2002 🙂Michael didn't won the old Hockenheim with Ferrari.
I think he would've won it in 1999, if he didn't break his leg in Silverstone. Mika Salo could won that race as his replacement driver but gave the win to Eddie Irvine.
you could borrow Max Verstappen from the Dutch if you like? Just pretend he's German for a weekend? Zandvoort, Spa, Spielberg... heck even the Hungaroring is pulling full grandstands from him alone. If people are willing to drive from the Netherlands all the way to bloody Hungary for crying out loud, I'm sure they wouldn't mind another race right next door.
@@OnionChoppingNinjaYou are right. Hockenheim is just four hours away from The Netherlands. That should be a huge bonus.
Max is also my favorite driver for many years now because he reminds me in some ways of Michael.
I enjoy racing the Nurburgrung GP circuit in racing sims, but unfortunately, they don't have Hockerheim on there. The track looks great, and I'd love to see a return to either of these tracks. We can lose Shanghai permanently at this point.
Hi, living near that forest section and been there several times already. It's not really isolated as stated in this video. First off the forest itself is not that large, there is a road going right through it to connect the towns of Oftersheim and Walldorf. Driving through there takes about two to three minutes. Walking from the road on the ring's side to the other end of the forest is possible. And then there are also many visitors walking their dogs, doing sports or going for a walk with their kids. And the forest administration is maintaining it all year long doing wood works etc. It mostly is a small low density forest with lots of straight paths in between three towns, that is being used for relaxation.
Great Comment, super kommi, aber von Oftersche nach Walldorf braucht man länger wie drei Minuten wegen den ganzen Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzunge n.
I loved 500cc gp and wsb in the 90s around this track. Some of the best races.
This. I can remember 4 or more bikes heading side by side into those corners at the ends of the long straights. It was the best bike racing ever.
One of the coolest circuits F1 has ever raced at imo. I watched 2019 live and it was one of the most insane races I've ever seen.
Never been an F1 fan but a massive World Superbikes fan. Many incredible races here with the performance set up and heroic outbraking at the entry to the chicanes. A true test of machine, strategy and rider skill. Much missed.
Snap! All the memories on here are of F1, but goddamn there was something special about grand prix bikes and superbikes screaming through that forest and then having some titanic late breaking duels into the stadium. 1991 500cc GP and 1996 World Superbikes are the 2 most iconic.
Schwantz outbraking Rainey was one of the greatest moments in GP history. The new track is a sad, emasculated bore.@@anthonykatern
Yes superbikes in the 90s at this track are my best memories
Thanks for that high speed trip down memory lane.
Hockenheim was such a special race. Almost like a high speed oval, with a few chicanes and a small race track, just to confound the aerodynamicists and scare the drivers even more.
Why the track owners could not build a few grandstands for the spectators, is a question that has never been answered.
Any real F1 fan would rather have seen Barcelona or Monaco omitted instead of a true icons of speed.
I feel blessed to have seen this track in its glory days when the cars were at their fastest and lightest.
You are sadly missed.❤
I remember recoiling in horror when I saw what Tilke did to the Hockenheimring.
Another one of the great circuits, lost forever.
Love it when you make Hockenheim videos. I know that you‘re a big fan of it. And coming from germany and watching Schumi every weekend and playing the f1 games as a child, Hockenheim holds a special place in my heart.
I'm living in a neighbour town from Hockenheim and this forest is my daily race track with the bicycle :D
Then you know how awful the local infrastructure is when holding major events.
I'm so heartbroken that this GREAT track is left to die. It was the host of some truly awesome moments in the 90s such as NIgel Mansell's victory in '92 and Gerhard Berger's incredible drive in '97 (truly one of the greatest moments of the 90s.)
"Why The Hockenheimring is Abandoned in a forest" What were they going to do , move the circuit to the beach and abandon it there ?
LOL
the old hockenheim ring was one of the most interesting circuits. The stadium section, as seen today was sweeping and twisty requiring a high downforce yet the rest of the circuits was exceptionally high speed, through a forest with vast overtaking opportunities and a narrow track which made it interesting. Cars often struggled to finish, engines blew up, cars were hard to setup, and weather varied from one side of the track to the other. It was an ideal weekend for a variable, unconventional and unpredictable raceday of which made it so exciting.
A lot of legendry circuits and features on circuits are being lost. The nurbergring gp of 2001 was far better with the castrol s first chicane. Magneycours was far better than paul ricard where every corner seems the same. hockenheim forest circuit was lost. silverstones old 2005 circuit was far better with bridge.
I honestly think tracks are getting worse.
There is another abandoned race track in Germany: the old south track of the Nürburgring. But it hasn't vanished completely, parts are still used as road and as track for rallye, the rest can still be explored by foot because it wasn't removed... nature just claimes it back more and more.
=WELL,NORDSCHLEIFE AND OLD HOCKENHEIM.........ONLY THESE 2 CAN HAVE THE RIGHT TO HAVE A F1 GP
=AND SCREW THAT SOUTHERN RING.....THERE'S ENOUGH TILKEDROMES ALREADY
@@robotnikkkk001The southern ring of Nurburgring existed as a racing circuit from 1927 to 1982, Tilke was not even alive when it opened. What are you talking about?
@@theonetheonlyjoey ......AHHH SORRY BUT TILKE WAS PARTICIPATING AT PARTIAL REBUILD OF NURBURGRING AND TILKE WAS BEHIND BLUEPRINTS OF SHORTENING HOCKENHEIM, DIDNT HE
.........I'M DEEPLY SORRY IF I'M WRONG BUT I GUESS I'M NOT, THOUGH BUT IF I'M NOT THEN OK I'LL APPLOGIZE......DONT HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO CHECK WHAT I REMEMBER,SOMETIMES
I grew up 5 minutes away from the circuit
you can still walk around parts of the old layout which is pretty cool as an F1 fan ✌🏼
too bad that it is not on the calendar anymore!
I was there as a tourist in '94 and forever embedded in my memory was the absolutely awesome sound of that era's F1 cars screaming through the forest as I was walking alongside the track. I loved the track for it's huge and fast straights and the fact that it really WAS a challenge to finish - the perfect F1 experience. As soon as that forest section was removed, it became just yet another sanitised track and the challenge was gone. I feel the steady homogenisation of F1 has reduced it to a shadow of it's former self.
Sad that it has been abandoned! When I was a kid I used to do a lot of sim racing (sports car GT if anyone remembers that beast of a game :D) and Hockenheim was my favourite circuit
I live near Hockenheim in a city called Leimen (Heidelberg) and its a shame that they abandoned it there is so much more forest like in Sandhausen or even in Hockenheim or Walldorf it would be completely sufficient for nature
The very 1st time I saw this track was in the very 1st Formula 1 game for the ps1. It INSTANTLY became my favorite track.
Through a previous job, I got to drive the old Hockenheimring a couple of times in some reasonably serious road cars. Still one of my favourite things I've done. Coming out of the stadium section and seeing the track entering the forest was just magical.
One afternoon I also walked out alongside the track to the Jim Clark Memorial. As a huge fan of all things Lotus, I felt it was something I needed to do. Hearing the V8 and V12's on the track while I was standing at the memorial was very poignant. Sadly, they moved the memorial to be just outside the track, but apparently there's still a marker for the original site though.
There was always something about the place. Especially after some rain. With the spray hanging around in the forest section for a long time after the stadium was pretty much dry.
The new layout, just doesn't feel right. In some ways, I wish they'd have gone from the Clark chicane back to the stadium rather than from the stadium section to the Senna chicane so there was still a blast through the trees.
A track that is also missed is the Adelaide Street Circuit in the Formula 1. After many years Melbourne pitched it from Adelaide, now even though i was introduced to formula one a bit late into my childhood (like 10 years after i was born) i consider the days of formula one before i was born the good old days as they had much better circuits, famous names, and really nice cars
One reason why I will occasionally boot up F1 99-02. Trying to keep up with top teams through forests with Minardi always is fun.
Have you tried out the track in AMS2?
@@JBDGaming I'm fairly sure it's also featured in Project Cars 1 & 2.
I actually found this one of the easiest tracks even with backmarker cars. The AI usually sets way too high downforce here and you can just cruise past them on the straights.
Living very close to Hockenheimring it always was awesome to hear those cars in the garden like 3 villages away
I miss the Hockenheimring, so much great F1 moments happened there and also in the sim games it was fun to drive.
I remember when the 500cc Gran Prix motorcycles raced at Hockenheim. Mick Doohan and Kevin Schwantz had some epic battles at this track on the screaming two-stroke race bikes. The speed on those sections in the forest was super fast.
This was my favourite track on the Microprose F1 GP game in the early 90s. Thanks for a bit of nostalgia!
Mine as well. And Spa and Monza. I sometimes still play it on DOS BOX!
Sad to hear this. When I lived in Heidelberg in the late 80's I used to ride my bike through the forest to the Hockenheim track.
Went to watch the bike GP at Hockenheim in 1991. Basically a massive camping party in the woods!
Was a long walk to the Ost Curve to watch the race.
I *loved* the old circuit through the forest! It was awesome!
This circuit was unique and it's a real shame that it has been abandoned like this.
I used to absolutely LOVE this old track in computer racing games. I wish I had been able to visit it in person...
It’s so sad it’s a amazing track I never forget Alain Prost pushing is Mac Laren it’s a iconic image of Formula 1
My first appreciation of how slipstream works is when I saw an overhead of a Jordan catching a slipstream in the forest section and getting a huge accelerating boost. However, it did make for a less than thrilling race, and I've never disliked the shorter layout, sometimes I think it got flack simply for being the layout that replaced the legendary forest track.
Both Nurburgring and Hockenheim are excellent legacy tracks and it sad that F1 can't find room for them.
I'd just wish that modern race sims or semi sims like Forza and GT would add old layouts like this, since there is no other way to truly enjoy them now that they're gone.
Assetto corsa on pc modded has all these tracks and more!
It's a shame that such a great motorsport country has almost completely quit the F1. No more tracks, no more young drivers, no perspective. 😞
Only the 24h at Nürburgring is still a great event.
They've only had one world champion.
@@thethirdman225 2
@@Maxbotnick Remind me. I’m getting old. Schumacher and…?
@@thethirdman225 3 actually, Vettel and Rosberg (kinda, since he's Finnish and Monegasque in addition to being German)
@@Maxbotnick Ah yes. Of course. Thank you.
There was some great World Superbike battles on the old track, was there when Fogarty wrapped up his last title in 1999, had a walk round the forest section when it was quiet, very eerie.. Some great drafting footage and engines letting go from the WSB days..
I visited the track quite often back in the 2000s mostly to watch the DTM. I always wondered why they layout changed but never did any research so this video was very enlightening to me!
Had the pleasure to drive the circuit in the older layout at that time.
I grew up near the Hockenheimring, the old track was great. If there were no races or test drives, we used to ride the part of the track in the forest by bike or moped. Access wasn't a problem with a little local knowledge, you just couldn't let the security guards catch you... ;-)
The Old Hockenheimring layout is my favorite for the amount for the outright speed and nothing less. Monza comes second being a speed track and its established history. I only respect the change to the track layout for reclaiming the land and planting those trees.
this was such a great video!!! love the way you deliver the info clearly and concisely
Great research, awesome tribute to this track, that last part where the engines roared on the abandoned track sent shivers down my spine. Way to go!
When I was overseas in the early '70s, I saw some very cool racing at Hockenheim. I never would have thought that it would deteriorate to the current state...it was a challenging track, but, as stated in the video, much of the action happened out of sight of the stands.
It was a fabulous track. I was a F1 fan in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s and I loved the excitement of watching the cars fly down the track into the forest and you'd never quite know who would be leading when they screamed back into the stadium section. I was very disappointed when it was cut back and essentially ruined. It ended up looking like a twisty, turny mess.
This track was was criminal good, great slipstream duels, immense stress on engine and breaks it wont get any better than it was 😪
This circuit in its old form, I miss the most. It was a unique challenge and a great engine test.
I certainly remember my time being stationed in Germany. I lived in Waldorf and could hear the screaming engines. I remember driving through Hockenheim during race day and could see all the colors....mostly and Ferrari red as Schumi was the man. It would be nice to see the Ring active again. I play GT7, and it would be nice to see the real and iconic track added to the game. Thank you for this video!!
I raced there several times in Formula 3. It was a fabulous circuit to race on, with good opportunities for slipstreaming, which meant very close racing. Great memories from those times.
Very interesting. I hope it gets restored to it's longer version some day. Thank you.
Always loved the tourist drive track days at Hockenheimring when I lived in Germany. They were very rare but it was always fun.
100k here we come! Happy to have been rocking with you most of the way there 😎
The Hockenheimring was always my favourite !
One of the tracks of the golden triangle in my opinion. Nürburgring/Spa/Hockenheim. Racing in its purest form.
One of my favorite tracks for sim racing. Low df cars through the stadium section was a lot of fun.
When I was a teenager in the mid 70s my dad was in the US army and was living in Heidelberg, Patrick Henry Village because the US had a base there. Hockenheim was not to far and you can hear the F1 cars.
My first PC game (The very first I owned! I got the CD for my birthday) was Superbike 2000. My favourite tracks were those with long straights, as they were easier to race the others (I was a noob kid). Monza and Hockenheim. The old Hockenheim. Little did I know this was the last year anyone could race on that layout.
Wow man, i had that game and SBK 2001 too. I love those games.
I started watching F1 during the early 90s and for me the old Hockenheim layout was and is one of the most iconic tracks of the sport alongside with Monaco, Spa and Monza.
I understand the old layout had its problems with safety and visibility for the live viewers but that layout was also unique with the long forest straights. It was one of my favourite races to watch from the tv and when they changed the layout to the shorter one I just did not feel the same. Hockenheim became just another boring Tilke track and became rather irrelevant to me. To underline the uniqueness of the track I remind people of the otherwise sad season of '94. The track was so unique that cars which did not have success non the other tracks were able to get good results because of their strong engines. Ferrari(Berger) won with their V12 and the nex podium spots went to Ligier(Panis and Bernard) which had the strong and powerful Renault engine Williams was also using that season.
Magny Cours was another track I liked to watch and drive in F1 videogames. I was also sad to see it dropped from the calendar.
I can't shake the feeling this track would be amazing in original form if revived today with proper safety measures, enough staff, modern media communication systems like remote cameras/camera drones, ect.
Great video, I love abandoned structures👌
I used to live very close to Hockenheim Ring. Close enough to actually sometimes hear the engine sounds from the race depending on the weather and such. I also remember that there is something called Wettergrenze (which would translate to weather border) right next to the city of Hockenhem and somewhere across the race track. Because of that it is possible that on one side of that border there is heavy rain and on the other side the sun is shining which one could tell is less than ideal for racing.
Original Hockenheim layout was so much better than the 2002 version.
World Superbike races at Hockenheim were just the best, I loved watching those so much.
well put together, thank you.
It was such a great track tho.
Absolutely!
It was such a great racetrack. I dont know why they spent the money to demolish it, they could have built the new layout and kept the old one for other racing/public access. F1 has been decades without being on the nordschliefe, but it still exists. Other than a walk, or sim racing, no one can ever race this jewel again .
1000% Why rip it up!? 😢
Because they needed to cut down trees when they built the new layout, and they needed to "replace" the cut out trees with newly planted ones. And they decided that they will plant the new trees in place of the old track. This is why you could still see the old layout from google maps, because the new ones are still relatively small compared to the old ones. A few decades from now, when the trees will grow, the old layout will be completely unrecognizable.
@frentzen100 I get what your saying, but they didn't need to touch the whole layout. They could have cut down toward the center where it bends to the left before the hairpin just as it is now. But they chose to rip up the racetrack and plant new trees but it was never necessary they never rebuilt anything on that spot. If there was a complex there I would get it. They just did that so they would never have to deal with it again. Thank goodness for Sim racing.
@@frentzen100 if the whole reason for ripping up racetrack was just to have room for the replaced trees that they cut down, they didn't think it through
@@CHOUT86 I know. But it's the official statement, which was issued by the local authorities. They cut down a lot of trees from the middle of the old track (this is where the new track is situated, in place of the inner forest section), so they needed to replace those trees with new ones. And as far as I know, if you cut grown tress, you need to plant twice the amount. So they needed room for those new tress, and they torn up the tarmac of the old track, and planted trees on the layout. That was the easiest solution.
Congrats on 100k subs, great content - look forward to seeing more cool stuff like this :)
THANK YOU SO MUCH. A GREAT HISTORY LESSON. AND A GREAT VIDEO. THANKS FOR SHARING.
It's not just a great track, it has some of the best scenery, it's a catastrophe that they've abandoned it.
well... most of the overtakes happened in the forest section. based on this logic, why Spa hasn't been cut to half yet?
I'm truly missing the old layout, as well as the double-chicaned Monza :(
Let's add a forest section to Monaco!
Really Great Information and Video' Thank you!
I am just recently been getting into F1 so I have been watching highlights from every year of every race to catch up on F1 so ik the drivers and really just everything so this is really cool to see.
Personally, I enjoy the new Hockenheimring more than the old one. The new version has a certain character to it that I really love and appreciate while the old layout feels a lot like Monza - enjoyable to drive, always on the edge, but ultimately very similar in nature. It's just a shame that they completely gave up on the old layout rather than preserving it for history.
Agreed. Old Hockenheim in a sense is Monza with the length and scenery from Spa. Just looking at the layout, you'd have DRS trains that would make Monza blush.
It's always hard to see things like parts of a track completely grown over with land and trees now. At some point, it was decided that a track in this area would be the best thing and decades later it's decided that it is useless. I've seen documentaries of the history of the Nurburgring and to see that some of that original track is now public roads and people drive on them all the time without know what they are actually driving on. A legacy just gets absorbed into time. It's sad and interesting at the same time.
Part of Brooklands circuit has been turned into a housing estate and there are people there who didn't know it was a Grand Prix circuit until James May laid a Scalextric track across their front gardens!
Hockenheim 2000 was my one and only F1 race I attended and it was insanity.
Well done! This is one of my favorite tracks.
Interesting - but that flashing PAUSE is irritating mate.
I miss the German Monza😭
Was my favourite track back in the days. Playing some Formula 1 on PS1
loved the old Hockenheimring, especially in the "older" F1 Racing games, always a challenge to find the best compromise between Top Speed ( on the Straights in the Forrest ) and the Stadium