Carlos Sainz Jr is excited to be driving around the Hockenheimring for the first time in an Formula 1 car this weekend.
As the German Grand Prix was pulled from the 2015 F1 calendar after the Nurburgring and the Hockenheimring failed to complete an agreement with Bernie Ecclestone. The Spaniard has yet to experience the Hockenheim circuit in an F1 car. He hopes his time on the simulator has given him a good idea of what to expect from this weekend.
“This will be the first time I drive the Hockenheim circuit in a Formula 1 car and I’m looking forward to it,” said Sainz. “I’ve prepared well with plenty of time on the simulator, which has given me a good idea of what to expect.
“Turn 1 is a really nice high-speed corner. It’s important to get a good exit out of Turn 3 because we then have a very long straight which curves round until you reach Turn 6, one of the slowest corners of the season: we go from 330 to 70kph in 100 metres. After that there’s another acceleration, reaching about 300kph before having to brake for Turn 8, which is taken in third gear.
“This is also a very good overtaking spot. Turn 10 is flat in qualifying and Turn 12 is one of the nicest corners of the circuit – it’s the entrance to the Motodrom section and it’s very quick. Turn 13 is actually quite banked so you can take it faster than you would a normal turn. Turns 14 and 15 make up a very fast chicane, followed by a double right-hander which is quite bumpy and it’s difficult to control the traction out of the final corner.”
The Scuderia Toro Rosso driver finished the Hungarian Grand Prix in eighth, behind the McLaren-Honda of Fernando Alonso. The weekend started off bad for the Faenza based team after both drivers struggled to find the right balance in the STR11. After this poor performance, Sainz was happy with eighth as he believed this was the best they could have achieved.
