By Phil Huff
July 18 2007

Germany's Nurburgring is decidedly tame by comparison to its intimidating 14 mile, 174-corner predecessor, the infamous Nordschleife. Further changes came in 2002 when the first turn was reprofiled to cut into the infield and around a new stadium section, slowing the track even more, but yielding another overtaking spot. Some superficial modifications also occurred for the 2003 race.

The current circuit remains a fairly high downforce track that is light on tyres and brakes. To achieve a competitive lap time here requires all the normal chassis attributes: good traction (particularly out of the hairpins), good chassis balance, stability under braking and the best possible compromise between downforce and straight-line speed. As the circuit is situated close to the Eifel Mountains, weather can often play a major role in the outcome of races at the Nurburgring.

The Nurburgring has the full mixture of slow through to high-speed corners, from the revised first turn, hairpin and chicane, to the double medium-speed 'S' bends and the very high speed 'S' after the hairpin. It also features a lot of undulation change, which is unusual for most modern circuits.

With high grip levels and reasonably high tyre wear, Bridgestone are taking soft and medium tyre options for this race. Higher downforce levels also affect fuel consumption, with the Honda RA107 sipping around 2.4kg of fuel each lap, while stretgy will be dictated by the fuel penalty of around 0.4 seconds per 10kg of fuel carried.

Last year's race saw Honda score a handful of points, with Rubens Barrichello finishing fifth after qualifying fourth. Team mate Jenson Button qualified sixth, but dropped out of the race with engine problems.