German Grand Prix

German Grand Prix

The German Grand Prix also called the Eifel Grand Prix, and Großer Preis von Deutschland in German is the most held Grand Prix in the world.

Since the first race held in 1926 on a racecourse in south western Berlin, the race has been held 75 times till 2019.

The German Grand Prix, which is traditionally held in July was deferred for 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fortunately, Formula 1 has included some of the different races in the F1 2020 calendar year and one of them is the German Grand Prix or the Eifel Grand Prix.

The Eifel Grand Prix will be held between 9-11 October with the practice and qualifying sessions held between 9-10 and the race held on 11 October.

Formula 1 Aramco Grosser Preis Der Eifel 2020 (Eifel Grand Prix 2020)

Venue: Nürburgring, GP-Strecke

Circuit Length: 5.148 km (3,199 miles)

Number of Laps: 60

Race Distance: 308.641 km (191.781miles)

Direction: Clockwise

Longest straight: 928 meters

Lap Record: None in an F1 Grand Prix

                      1’29.691 in the 2004 European Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher

First race: 1926 German Grand Prix (non-Championship)

                   1951 German Grand Prix (Championship)

For decades now the German Grand Prix has held a prestigious position in the Formula 1 Championships and the European Grands Prix seasons.

Because West Germany was barred from competing in international events post World War II, the German Grand Prix became a part of Formula 1 Championships only in 1951.

Despite being new to Formula 1, The German Grand Prix was named the European Grand Prix four times between 1954 and 1974.

The European Grand Prix was an honorary designation bestowed on the best organised and run race in Europe.

Where is the German Grand Prix held?

Since the first Grand Prix in 1926 the German Grand Prix has been held at three venues: Nürburgring, Hockenheimring, and occasionally at AVUS (Automobile traffic and training road) in southwestern Berlin.

Formula 1 Grand Prix races were held at Nürburgring from 1951 to 1958 and AVUS hosted the only Formula 1 race in 1959.

The Hockenheimring circuit first hosted a Formula 1 race in 1970 and was later to become a venue for the races for 30 years at a stretch from 1977 to 2006 with only one race held at Nürburgring in 1985.

With the Formula 1 race in 2007 renamed as the European Grand Prix Hockenheimring and Nürburgring agreed to host the race alternately from 2008 till 2014.

In 2015 Nürburgring opted out of the Formula 1 races and the race was held every alternate year at Hockenheimring.

Hockenheimring held the Grand Prix races consecutively in 2018 and 2019 but in 2020 Formula 1 agreed to hold the race at the Nürburgring circuit.

Nürburgring is one of the most popular racing venues around the world and is part of the motor racing complex that houses the 21 kilometres Nordschleife racecourse.

Because Nürburgring is situated in the heart of the Eifel mountain range the race is known as the Eifel Grand Prix 2020.

Nürburgring is located just 80 kilometres south of Cologne, the largest city in the most populous state of Rhine-Westphalia of Germany.

Nürburgring GP-Strecke

The original Nordschleife (North Loop) was a daunting 20.8 km long track with an elevation difference of 300 meters and was built in the 1920s.

Built around the ancient Nürburg castle, the track now encircles three villages with a town located just outside the track.

The Nürburgring is a motorsports complex in the mountainous town of Nürburg with a capacity of 150,000 spectators.

The Nordschleife was a dangerous track and even after adding a chicane in 1967 it prompted Jackie Stewart, the winner of the 1968 German Grand Prix, to call it “The Green Hell”.

The Grand Prix race track on which the Formula 1 race will be held this year, was built in 1984 after demolishing the start/finish area of Nordschleife between 1982 and 1983.

There were several protests and boycotting attempts by Formula 1 drivers and the track was modified several times till it was considered safe for modern Formula 1 cars in 1984.

In 1985, GP-Strecke (Großer Preis-Strecke in German meaning the Grand Prix Course in English) hosted the first Formula 1 Grand Prix race, the first at Nürburgring after eight years.

Thereafter, Hockenheimring continued to host the races until a sharing agreement was reached and Nürburgring hosted the races every odd-numbered year from 2009 to 2013.

Formula 1 will be returning to Nürburgring after a gap of seven years because Nürburgring was unable to reach a deal with Formula 1 to hold the races in the odd-numbered years after 2013.

The Nürburgring GP-Strecke has 9 right-hand turns in a total of 15 turns and is run clockwise.

A lap of the circuit

The start/finish of the race is the highest point of the circuit at 627.75 above MSL and the cars race hard as they speed downhill into the first tight right corner.

The cars will be negotiating the Castrol-S which is a tight right turn followed by a more lenient right turn as they prepare to tackle the Mercedes-Kurve.

Going left around the Mercedes-Kurve, the drivers are wary of drifting left as they negotiate another tight right turn before hitting the short straight which will lead them into the Ford curve.

The Ford-Kurve drops down in elevation leading the cars into the Dunlop-Kerhe, a hairpin which is the slowest section of the circuit.

Drivers will work their throttles furiously to get a grip as they come out of the tricky hairpin turn that has seen many a driver finish in the gravel.

They will then accelerate as they negotiate the Michael Schumacher S, a sweeping combination of left and right turns at speeds of 270 kph.

The cars reach speeds of 300 kph before braking hard for a sharp left RTL-Kurve and will accelerate through Turn 11 (Bit Kurve) before reaching the first DRS section.

They continue downhill at speeds of 285 kph through the sweeping Turn 12 (ITT-Bogen corner) which has the lowest elevation on the circuit (23.5 meters below the Start/stop point).

The cars accelerate to speeds exceeding 300 kph along the second-longest straight before slowing down at the end of the first DRS section and near the trickiest part of the circuit.

The NGK Schikane (Chicane) is a sharp left turn followed by a sharp right and the cars will be rumbling across the left kerb as they exit the right and into the short straight.

The Coca-Cola Kurve is taken at a sedate 125 kph as the cars race towards the start and start/finish line and head towards the first turn at speeds exceeding 300 kph for another lap.

F1 Session Times

Friday 9 October 2020

Eifel Grand Prix Free Practice 1: 14:30-16:30  (Local Time GMT+2)

Eifel Grand Prix Free Practice 2: 18:30-20:00 (Local Time GMT+2)

Saturday 10 October 2020

Eifel Grand Prix Free Practice 3: 15:30-16:30 (Local Time GMT+2)

Eifel Grand Prix Qualifying: 18:30-19:30 (Local Time GMT+2)

Sunday 11 October 2020

Eifel Grand Prix: 17:40-18:40 (Local Time GMT+2)

Best places to watch the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix from

Although Nürburgring has a capacity of 150,000 spectators, the authorities have [romised to make some places available for public booking.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic (because of which the race was deferred in the first place) the number of seats available, and the prices for the tickets have not yet been revealed

The authorities have announced that a limited number of spectators will be able to watch the race live on-site and the information will be conveyed online at the earliest.

We will update this page as and when the seats and the tickets are announced but let us take a look at some of the best places to watch the Eiffel Grand Prix.

BMW M Power Grandstand (Tribune 3)

For those that are interested in seeing the activity in the pits, the start and finish and in watching the podium celebrations, the BMW M Power Stand will be a good vantage point.

They will also have a view of the cars coming out of the Coca-Cola Kurve and zooming past them towards the first turn of the circuit along the longest straight.

Bilstein Grandstand (Tribune 4)

Overlooking the first turn and the exit from the Mercedes-Kurve this grandstand gives the spectator a chance to watch all the overtaking moves.

Turn 1 is a tight curve but is pretty broad allowing drives lines to overtake which can make spectator’s day.

Grandstand 8 (Tribune 8)

This is a long grandstand right around the Dunlop-Kerhe, the hairpin bend where the drivers will be furiously working their gears trying not to go off the track.

Being the slowest part of the circuit spectators can get good close-up shots of the drivers provided they have a good camera as the stands are a bit far from the track.

There are around 16 grandstands with varying capacities around the circuit along with two general admission areas.

There are two general admission areas with the general admission around the Coca-Cola Kurve is a good place to be in and so is the Tribune 14 grandstand just after the NGK Chicane.

It is however not yet known how many tickets will be available for booking and in which stands or general admission areas.

Tickets for 2020 Eifel Grand Prix

Tickets for the German Grand Prix are generally costlier than those at the other venues in the world but are not costly if you look at the German per capita income.

As the tickets have not yet opened for booking, we can only refer to the tickets for the 2019 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

There were just 5 grandstand tickets on offer for the Hockenheim race last year which were split into 7 categories.

They were priced from € 519 and € 189 with € 189 for the General Admission area and in general the higher you were in a grandstand, the more you paid for a seat.

Children below the age of 7 years were allowed free of cost but were not allowed to take a seat as also children between the ages of 7-15 were allowed in at a discounted rate of €50.

The tickets for the 2013 German Grand Prix, the tickets were priced at €165 per person for 3 day pass.

A weekend pass to the Paddock Club was priced at €3905 and a pass for Saturday and Sunday was €3411.

We will update this page as soon as the tickets are open for sale.

How to get to Nürburgring

Nürburgring is in Nürburg, a small town located deep in the Black Forest of Germany’s Eifel mountain region

Nürburg is in south western Germany and is within driving distance of Cologne’s Bonn and Frankfurt airports.

Driving from Cologne’s Bonn airport to Nürburgring will take 1hr and ten minutes while Frankfurt’s airport is an hour and a half to two hours away depending on the traffic.

Although Germany is renowned for its rail system, taking a train to Nürburgring is not a practical option as it is a bit far away from the closest railway station.

The best option is to hire a taxi or hire a car and drive along on Germany’s excellent autobahns.

Where to stay at Nürburgring

The whole Nürburgring circuit, all of more than 28 kilometres long, encircles the three villages of Quiddlebach, Herschbroich and the town of Nürburg.

With the town of Adenau right alongside the track, there is no dearth of accommodation in the area within a short distance from Nürburgring GP-Strecke.

Many races are conducted on the Nordschleife circuit throughout the year and the residents surrounding it are quite used to putting up people for short durations.

If you are on a budget, you could find an accommodation for as low as €35 or even less considering the scarcity of visitors during the current pandemic.

With many hotels in the vicinity too, you effectively have two types of accommodation available to you: homestays and hotels.

There are some star hotels located right next to the racing track, but their room prices could soar up to €4,000 during a racing weekend.

There are hotels too, within a stone’s throw from the track, which you can stay in by paying as little as €100 per night.

If you don’t want to put up with the noise of cars racing from dawn to dusk, you can move slightly further and still find accommodation ranging from €2,500 to € 80.

Not a big crowd is expected to grace Nürburgring this year as not all the tickets will be available and plenty of accommodation will be available at cheaper prices than usual.

Things to do while at Nürburgring

There is an excellent racing museum at Nürburgring which will take some time to go through as also an ancient castle to explore.

You can also take a tour of the paddocks which are on the highest point of the race course and check on the pre-race activities.

The surrounding villages don’t provide much in terms of entertainment unless you are camping buff which you can do in the surrounding Black Forest areas.

Stuttgart is only three hours’ drive away from Nürburgring via an autobahn where you will get a chance to visit tw of the best car museums in the world.

The Merceds Benz and Porsche museums virtually run you through the history of automobiles and will each take at least 3 hours to tour at just €10 entry per person.

Formula 1 World Championship German Grand Prix