[Kingshark]

Well, how did the old Hockenheim stack up against Monza in average speed? I will compare both circuits from their respective pole position laps in 2001, the last year of the old Hockenheim. Quite frankly, it is convenient to know that a certain chubby Colombian, Juan Pablo Montoya, in his BMW Williams took pole position in both the German GP and Italian GP that year; which makes the comparison all the more accurate.

2001 German Grand Prix
Pole Position – 1:38.117
Circuit Length – 6.823 km

2001 Italian Grand Prix
Pole Position – 1:22.216
Circuit Length – 5.793 km

The average speed around Hockenheim was 250.34 KP/h versus 253.66 KP/h for Monza. Indeed, Monza was the quicker circuit.

Now compare the average speed of Monza and Hockenheim of the Grand Prix events held 5 and 10 years ago respectively; to get a visual of how differently designed cars performed there.

1996 German Grand Prix
Pole Position – 1:43.912
Circuit Length – 6.823 km

1996 Italian Grand Prix
Pole Position – 1:24.204
Circuit Length – 5.770 km

1991 German Grand Prix
Pole Position – 1:37.087
Circuit Length – 6.823 km

1991 Italian Grand Prix
Pole Position – 1:21.114
Circuit Length – 5.770 km

First of all, what obviously needs to be noticed is that back in 1991 qualifying was done with near-empty fuel tanks rather than full ones, hence the lap times were quicker. Also, the Rettifilo chicane was different pre-1999 than it was 2000 onward. It was left-right-left-right; rather than right-left-right.

Nonetheless. Let’s configure the facts once more. In 1996, the mean speed for Hockenheim was 236.61 KP/h against 246.69 KP/h for Monza. In 1991, Hockenheim averaged 253.00 KP/h dead compared to Monza’s 256.08 KP.h. Hence; yet again, Monza was faster on both occasions.

[Journeyer]

Not sure what the point of this post is, but here’s my thoughts.

1. Wasn’t all qualifying done before 2003 always on empty tanks? In that sense, the times are on equal footing. That said, the 1991 cars had an advantage over the 1996 cars in that they were lower and used fatter slicks.
2. Looking at your post’s tags, I see Tilke. The one reason Hockenheim got chopped and Monza didn’t was… well, TV. The old Hockenheim circuit was just too wide and expansive to be covered properly by TV cameras (allegedly). It also didn’t make good use of the land around it, as they couldn’t chop down the trees to build more grandstands (i.e. make more money off the circuit).

[sumedhvidwans]

That is strange because in the old EA Sports game, I always end up with a faster average speed at Hockenheim.
I think both are very similar tracks and there was room for only one. And I am not that against the current Hockenheim. This year gave us an exciting race at the track.

[Author]

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