Originally called "Dreieckskurs" (triangle course), the Hockenheimring was built in 1932. Ernst Christ, a young timekeeper, felt a racing track should be built in his hometown of Hockenheim. He submitted plans to the mayor, which were approved on Christmas day in 1931. This first layout was around twelve kilometres long and consisted of a large triangle-like section, a hairpin in the city, and two straights connecting them.
In 1938, the circuit was dramatically shortened from twelve kilometres to just over seven and a half, and the Ostkurve corner was introduced for the first time. The track was also renamed to "Kurpfalzring" in that year. The track was damaged by tanks during World War II. After the war, the track was repaired and renamed to "Hockenheimring". Wilhelm Herz, a former DKW and NSU factory rider and world record setter, became the manager of the track in 1954 and promoted it successfully. Grand Prix motorcycle racing events were held, with the German motorcycle Grand Prix alternating between the Hockenheimring and other tracks. This version of the circuit was just over seven and a half kilometres long and consisted of the original two long straights, with the Ostkurve in the forest and the original hairpin inside Hockenheim joining them together.
In 1965, a new version of the Hockenheim circuit was built when the new Autobahn A 6 separated the village from the main part of the track. This version included the "Motodrom" stadium section, designed by John Hugenholtz, who also designed Suzuka. After Jim Clark was killed on 7 April 1968 in a Formula 2 racing accident, two fast chicanes were added and the track was lined with crash barriers in 1970. A small memorial was placed near the first chicane, which was named after him, at the site of his accident. In 1982, another chicane was added at the Ostkurve after Patrick Depailler was killed there in 1980, and the first chicane was also made slower. For the 1992 German Grand Prix, the Ostkurve was changed again, from a quick left turn into a more complex right-left-right chicane, after Érik Comas crashed there in 1991. The second chicane was renamed after Ayrton Senna after his death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
This version was quite large, with a very long and fast section through forests, consisting of four straights of roughly 1.3 km (0.81 mi), separated by a chicane sequence. This was followed by a more tight and twisty "stadium" section named Motodrom. This layout made setting up racing cars difficult. During the mid-1980s "turbo era" of Formula One, Hockenheim saw drivers, including World Champion Alain Prost, fail to finish due to running out of fuel. Prost ran out at the end of the 1986 race, pushing his McLaren towards the line before giving up.
Many problems came to light during the 2000 German Grand Prix, which was won by Rubens Barrichello. The race finished in changeable weather conditions. All overtaking moves took place in the chicanes of the forest sector, meaning hardly any spectators saw most of the best action. Midway through the race, a former Mercedes-Benz employee breached the track's security barriers, leading to the deployment of the safety car. Later, Jean Alesi collided with Pedro Diniz, causing Alesi to suffer dizziness for three days. These events prompted much protest from the FIA to greatly improve spectator viewing, safety, and security at the track.
In the early 2000s, F1 officials demanded the 6.823 km (4.240 mi) track be shortened and threatened to discontinue racing there. The state government of Baden-Württemberg secured the financing for the redesign by Hermann Tilke for the 2002 German Grand Prix. The stadium section remained mostly intact, despite a new surface and a tighter Turn 1 ("Nordkurve"). However, the circuit was dramatically shortened, with the long, forested straights section chopped off in favour of more tight corners. The old forest section was torn up and replanted with trees, eliminating any chance of using the old course for future F1 events or historic car events.
There was and still remains a great deal of criticism of the track redesign, in terms of ruining the previous unique technical challenges of the old Hockenheim circuit. Several drivers and team principals, including Ron Dennis, Jarno Trulli, and Juan Pablo Montoya, criticised the changes and stated their preference for the old circuit. The change in the track layout also saw the installation of a new memorial to Jim Clark. The new track has a seating capacity of 120,000, due to new large grandstands sponsored by Mercedes-Benz. The complex also features a quarter-mile track for drag racing.
The Hockenheim Circuit hosted the German Grand Prix for the first time in 1970 when F1 drivers decided to boycott the Nürburgring. From 1977 to 2006, the Hockenheimring hosted the German Grand Prix, with the exception of 1985. In July 2006, Bernie Ecclestone announced that from 2007 onwards, there would be only one Grand Prix per year in Germany. From 2007, the Nürburgring and Hockenheimring alternated hosting the German Grand Prix.
Ongoing deficits of the Formula One races made it likely the contract would not be extended after 2010. However, in October 2009, the contract for the circuit to hold the German GP was extended to 2018. Neither Hockenheim nor the Nürburgring hosted a Grand Prix in 2015 or 2017. 2019 was the last time the facility hosted the German Grand Prix, which was sponsored by Mercedes-Benz.
From 1986 to 1988, the start–finish straight was used for 1/8 mile drag racing. In 1989, a proper drag strip was built by connecting the Opel-Kurve and the first turn entering the Motodrom section. The drag strip is only used for two events in August, the Public Race Days and the NitrolympX main event a week later. When the Hockenheimring was shortened in 2002, the drag strip was moved back. The NitrolympX usually host most European Drag Racing Championship events. The drag strip in 2008 was christened Rico Anthes Quarter Mile after Rico Anthes, a German former Top Fuel driver. In 2016, Hockenheim saw the first 3-second Top Fuel 1000 ft passes, with Anita Mäkelä (FIN) achieving 3.939 sec. and 486.91 km/h (302.55 mph).
The DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) series has regularly raced at the Hockenheimring since its revival in 2000. In most years, the DTM has competed there twice during a season.
Located in the stadia section of the track, the rallycross track uses a section of track from turns 11 to 16, combined with a dirt section. It hosted the first ever World RX of Hockenheim, round 2 of FIA World Rallycross Championship in 2015 as a supporting event of DTM. WRX also combined with the DTM for an event there in 2017.
Official record lap times are only set during the race. The fastest ever lap on the track is 1:11.212 set by Sebastian Vettel in a Ferrari SF71H during qualifying at the 2018 German Grand Prix.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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