Formula 1

COLD AND RAIN ON THE NÜRBURGRING: ”A LOT OF UNCERTAINTY FOR RICCIARDO ”

Published

2 years ago

06/10/2020

Fati's Sturm F1 Author

COLD AND RAIN ON THE NuRBURGRING A LOT OF UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDING FOR RICCIARDO

The circuit is located within the low Eifel mountain range and is susceptible to rain showers.

Daniel Ricciardo believes there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the upcoming Grand Prix of Eifel.

The first real autumn weekend of the season the Australian expects to have a very unusual race ahead.

“The weather forecast suggests that it will be quite cold and wet.

That will be significantly different from our last races, in which it was warm almost every weekend”, the Renault rider opens in conversation with MotorsportWeek.

In 2020 the drivers will not have driven a single race in real cold. The temperature is expected to be between five and ten degrees on Saturday and Sunday.

It will be interesting to see how the cars behave in these cool conditions.

“Given the time of year, I think we are going to have an unpredictable weekend and possibly a crazy race. Rain or not, I’m ready for it!” After a P5 in Sochi in Germany, Ricciardo will probably compete again for points at the front of midfield.

“We hope to be able to continue the positive trend of the past few weeks in Germany,” says the former Red Bull Racing rider hopefully.

“The current Formula 1 cars are extremely fast, so racing at the Nürburgring will be entertaining.”

TWO UPGRADES FOR EIFEL GRAND PRIX ?

After a new floor and front wing was introduced for the last race in Russia that brought “a decent step in performance”, according to chief race engineer Ciaron Pilbeam, he added: “Sochi was another good weekend for us. The car performed well.

“We scored a good haul of points and we are now in a good position in the constructors’ championship.

“We are well into the second half of the season now and we still have one or two upgrades to come to the car, which we will need to keep up that challenge, as our competitors are not sleeping.”

While data is available from F1’s last visit to the German circuit in 2013, Pilbeam concedes it is almost irrelevant given the changes to the cars over the years, with the team going into the weekend primarily relying on simulation work.

Assessing the track, Pilbeam said: “The first sector of the circuit is quite a technical section, with a sequence of closely spaced slow and medium-speed corners where the precise racing line is important.

“The middle sector is more flowing, with some faster corners and the tricky chicane, and then the last corner on to the start-finish straight. It’s a high downforce track with a variety of features that will require some set-up compromises.”

One of the main areas of concern for all teams will be the cold and wet weather that is forecast.

“We need to be prepared to focus on getting the tyres working if it is dry, and to consider how and when we use our limited number of wet and intermediate tyres if the forecast is for rain over the weekend,” said Pilbeam.

“We’ve shown recently our car is performing well at most circuits, and it has been competitive in the wet. We will be prepared for all conditions.”

cold and rain on the nürburgring: ”a lot of uncertainty for ricciardo ” cold and rain on the nürburgring: ”a lot of uncertainty for ricciardo ” cold and rain on the nürburgring: ”a lot of uncertainty for ricciardo ”