One of the best thing to happen to the Nürburgring community this year was the re-introduction of the Eifel GP. A massive cash and PR injection that moved the ‘Ring back to the top of the newsfeed in these horrible COVID-centric times.
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As this was the first Nürburgring Grand Prix since 2013, it was also the first introduction of the old 20.8km Nordschleife to a whole new generation of F1 drivers. Some of them were impressed, some of them less so.
Daniel Ricciardo was one of the less impressed drivers. “I was shocked, let’s put it this way,” he told Motorsport.com.
“We finished the race with the team on Thursday night and it was pretty slippery. I don’t know the track from games or anything, so I don’t know the track by heart.
“But I had a moment in the first 500 meters and that set the tone for the next 22 kilometers. I was pretty timid afterwards. It’s a fun and beautiful circuit, but would I race there for 24 hours with 180 other cars on the track? No thank you! I’m good where I am.”
Ice man Kimi Raikonnen has a reputation for keeping his emotions in check, but I could clearly count at least half a dozen smiles in this short movie, even if he did nearly crash several times.
I was kind of disappointed that Alfa Romeo didn’t have a Giulia GTA-M prototype available for their F1 drivers, but the standard Giulia QV was probably more than enough for such a disgustingly wet and slipperly Nordschleife.
The social media call, arranged by the Nürburgring and F1, took place on Thursday night, in place of the cancelled Touristenfahrten session. The weather, as you may have noticed, was somewhere between atrocious and awful.
“Sketchy, wonderful laps of the Nordschleife,” summed up Williams F1 driver George Russell at the end of the WilliamsTV video. “I thought we were heading towards the wall at one or two points,” he admitted.
One thing that surprised every single driver above (arguably some of the finest drivers in motorsports today) was the total lack of traction. So if you’ve ever thought “I can’t believe the Nürburgring is this slippery in the wet,” don’t worry. You’re in good company!
