The European Grand Prix is the middle point of the 2002 season, and while the World Drivers Championship title looks all but sealed, the competition for runner up is warming up and the Costructors' standings are constantly reshuffled. Atlas F1's technical writer Craig Scarborough analyses the upcoming weekend (including past performance by the current drivers)

The European Grand Prix is effectively the second German race on the F1 calendar and joins Italy (San Marino) as having a conveniently renamed second race. However, if the 'European GP' tag is a misnomer then the circuit name is equally misleading: the Nurburgring in its Nordschlieffe guise was the infamous circuit of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, where Juan Manuel Fangio had his last win, and Niki Lauda had his fiery accident.

The new circuit was built in the 1980s with a totally modern outlook, much shorter than the Nordschlieffe, and quickly drew negative comments from the drivers. Niki Lauda explains: "When the new Nurburgring circuit was completed in the early 1980s, it was a modern safe track, but I always felt that the spectators were too far away. In other words, no matter how good the race was, the spectators struggled to feel part of the atmosphere. This is why the new circuit could never compete with the old Nordschlieffe."

The circuit was revised for this year's event but still retains its modern character of short straights separating tight, slow-speed corners. This layout doesn't excite the drivers but does allow for some overtaking. New for this year is a revision of the first corner into a three-corner section under the intention of making it safer, however the field flowing into this tight complex may raise problems in itself. To combat the other criticism, the spectators have been given a new stand on the infield, mimicking the stadium layout of the Hockenheimring.

The return to Europe from Canada sets out the closing stages of the season, with six classic flowing European tracks followed by two modern ones in the United States and Japan. And while for many the Drivers' Championship is now almost a foregone conclusion - Michael Schumacher should tie up his title before the closing flyaway races - the focus for the drivers is now on second place in the World Championship.

Reliability has robbed the Williams duo of their recent advantage and two good results pushed McLaren's David Coulthard up there too. The dark horse in the race for second could be Rubens Barichello; he suffered Ferrari's unreliability and team orders, but the tying up of the title could free up Ferrari to push Barrichello into better race positions in the fight for the runner-up spot of the Championship.

If the aim for the teams outside of the big three is to get a driver to seventh in the Championship standings, then one driver may exceed expectations: McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen has been suffering dreadful reliability and is already beaten to sixth by Jenson Button, despite having only eight points. As a result, any of the Renault drivers, Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella or Sauber's Nick Heidfeld could get sixth with one good finish.

The Constructors' Championship, on the other hand, is more open. The teams' inability to have two cars consistently finishing high up in the points has slowed the Championship and Ferrari could be challenged by Williams or even McLaren - although McLaren are far from clear of Renault's challenge, considering the type of tracks coming up.

While the top four places in the Constructors' Championship are being decided, BAR have the unfortunate position of not being on the standings at all. Unusually for a competitive season, all the other teams have scored points - even Minardi have something on the board. Moreover, while BAR are languishing, similar-engined Jordan are on the up, and with improving and reliable pace from Fisichella, they are possible contenders for fourth in the Championship, with Renault and Sauber.

Set up and Layout

Despite the circuit being on the calendar for many years, the track changes force the teams to go back to the factory and plug in new data for their laptime and set-up simulations. This will make the cars' initial set-up based on calculated guess work, and Friday's session could well see a very different order to that of Sunday. Equally, the lack of long straights means the teams will not opt to cut so much downforce for the race, and qualifying may be a better judge of genuine pace.

As with most of the modern circuits, the track demands great slow corner performance, requiring downforce, mechanical grip and excellent traction control. Top end power is not in such great demand but drivability and acceleration is the prerequisite for engines.

Renault are debuting a new traction control system, which should provide them with an advantage this week. As the circuit features tight corners and hairpins, it is essential that the drivers can run over the kerbs without unsettling the car and delaying the flooring of the throttle onto the next straight.

The Williams chassis seems to display the best ability to ride kerbs at the moment. McLaren have also been excellent in this regard in recent years, but the current car seems to have some rear-end instability, which is something of a trademark for the designer Adrian Newey. Ferrari are indifferent in riding the kerbs - they cannot take as much of a run across as some teams do, but still maintain a high cover speed.

Although the kerbs are harsh, the track surface is smooth and allows the teams to run with soft tyre compounds. This in turn brings the problem of blistering if the weather turns hot, and traction control has been known to cause problems to the rear tyres on slow circuits. On the other hand, with the tyres expected to last well, the major factor in pitstop strategy will be the cost in laptime for a heavier fuel load.

Weather can be mixed in the altitude and surrounding forests, and rain can come in very suddenly and be torrential. There is some rain forecast for the weekend, so if it rains on Sunday then full fuel tanks for a long first stint will be the safe option.

A lap of the Nurburgring with Jenson Button

"The first part of the track at the Nurburgring is significantly different this year and therefore we have to rely on the simulation done by the engineers to give me some idea of how to tackle the first few corners. I will still be approaching the first corner at approximately 300 km/h in top gear but instead of meeting a third-gear chicane now I have to brake very hard into a tight hairpin which I anticipate taking at around 80 km/h, probably in first gear.

"This will immediately lead me into a long left-hand corner which looks reasonably fast at around 155 km/h and therefore third gear. I should be able to get fourth gear at around 225 km/h before entering the next new left-hand corner, which looks quicker than the first corner and should be taken at around 95 km/h in second gear. I hope to hold second gear and take the final part of the new complex at around 105 km/h before rejoining the old track.

"Back on familiar territory, I will be reaching around 280 km/h before dropping down to 180 km/h for the next left-hand corner. As I exit the corner, I have to position my car carefully for the second-gear 120 km/h right-hander that follows.

"After this I should reach around 285 km/h in top gear before entering the hairpin, a 100 km/h second-gear corner. As I accelerate up the hill I have to deal with a tricky left-hand corner which I take at around 240 km/h in fifth gear, using a little bit of left-foot braking and coming off the throttle slightly. It is unlikely that I will be able to take this corner without lifting, even with the increased grip that we have this year.

"I will reach around 290 km/h in top gear before entering the first of two quite fast and challenging corners, the left one at 150 km/h in third gear and the right-hander at around 170 km/h.

"A good exit is needed from this corner before the long run to the chicane where I should reach just under 300 km/h in top gear before braking hard and flicking left to right at between 85-95 km/h in second gear through the chicane.

"On exiting the chicane I will only get up to fourth gear, around 230 km/h, before entering the final second-gear corner where I would apex at around 115 km/h. I need a good exit from the corner in order to get good maximum speed on the way down to turn 1."

Team by Team

Ferrari

It is isn't hard to predict that Ferrari will be competitive on the German track, but the question remains what will be the comparative performance of Ferrari and Bridgestone to that of Williams and Michelin.

The relative performance of Rubens Barrichello against Michael Schumacher will also be a point of interest this weekend: the run of top qualifying performances from Barrichello were curbed at Monaco and Canada, but the Nurburgring is a more classic track and suits his style better, so the two teammates should be equal again.

Ferrari have been adventurous with their strategies of late, and in some ways it is almost predictable that the team will opt for a fast starting, short first stint, or for a multiple stop strategy for Barrichello, who has been used recently as a spoiler - getting ahead of the opposition to the detriment of his own race.

The car's reliability has been excellent in race trim, with only Barrichello suffering technical problems. While this has been a Ferrari strong point, the probability that Schumacher will have a failure increases with every race.

Williams

Williams have proven their conventional chassis is a match for Ferrari on almost all types of circuits. And while the chassis and aerodynamics are not exceptional, Monaco and Canada proved the car can cope with slow corners and fast straights. The team are only constrained by the Michelin tyres, which has improved in the latter part of the season with less to choose between makes.

Where Williams have failed, is on reliability: Juan Pablo Montoya lost two possible podium finishes - if not a win - due to two consecutive engine failures. His teammate, Ralf Schumacher, made it to the end of the Canadian Grand Prix, only to lose his engine a few yards after the finish line. Clearly, the BMW engine's triple failure is no coincidence.

Nevertheless, seeing as Germany is not a power circuit, perhaps some power can be sacrificed for reliability, but a qualifying engine used in Canada suggests development is still being pushed ahead.

With Montoya providing fireworks in Qualifying and the early part of the race, Ralf has been rewarded with less noticeable drives that still produce strong finishes. Still, there is little to choose between the two, although Ralf has the ghost of his pitlane penalty from last year to exorcise, and a home advantage.

McLaren

Initially, the Monaco Grand Prix win was put down to a one off performance from the team. However, being followed up in a mixed up race in Canada with a second place for David Coulthard and a finish for Kimi Raikkonen, suggests that the team's form may have improved.

There is little improvement in power, but reliability has been found from the Mercedes engine. There are also little changes visibly on the car's aerodynamics. The gains seem to have come from the chassis: the rear end is the weak point in the McLaren and the car's mechanical match with its tyres also rob performance. These problems have been worked on in relentless test sessions and the potential of the MP4/17 may have been found.

This has given Coulthard a much needed confidence boost, but has exposed Raikkonen's poorer performance of late, although a return to the more typical circuits may help the Finn benefit from the improved car.

Renault

Renault are fading from their early season form - the car's reliability is costing time during practice sessions and robbing points in the races, but more importantly the team seem to struggle to find a set-up for the car. Friday and Saturday morning sessions pass without the drivers establishing the set-up for qualifying, and since both the drivers and the engineers are experienced, this loss of direction is mystifying.

Both drivers are now just about equal in pace in both the race and qualifying. Jarno Trulli lost the "poor racer" tag and Jenson Button proved to be a committed, focussed driver. You sense their motivation has waned over the past few races, from the pace and reliability problems, but once again the return to familiar conventional circuits should aid the team, who can race up with the top three if they extract the pace the R202 has.

Sauber

The Swiss-based team has failed to follow up their form from 2001. The car is clearly ahead of the midfield but Sauber seem to be reliant on Bridgestone coming up with a superior tyre more than most teams. The car has reliability and pace but poor runs in qualifying often leave the drivers to fight out the races with the midfield.

Development on the car has not followed last year's practice of continual improvement - a few detail changes have been seen on the car, and Sauber's old reputation of "fast in - slow out" during the season is reappearing.

Nick Heidfeld's reputation is improving with rumours of drives with other teams for 2003 doing the rounds, despite a firm contract with Sauber. Felipe Massa, meanwhile, has gained a lot of comments on his exuberant driving style, but he's not been seen to mature this year - the early expectation of a great driver is now being tinged with him being a loose cannon. He needs to calm down, keep the car on the road all weekend, and bring the car home a few more times.

Jordan

The return of old technical director Gary Anderson also returns the old tag that Jordan start the season slowly and develop the car to release its pace in the second half of the year. Considering the awful mess the car was at the start of the year - with handling and reliability problems - the team have come a long way and the car is now well up with the front of the midfield, and the confidence is returning to the Silverstone-based team. That is, at least in Giancarlo Fisichella's hands.

Fisichella had praise heaped upon him by the team, which is in stark contrast to the lack of comment being applied to his teammate Takuma Sato. Sato had a startling career in British F3 and came to F1 with those in the "know" in British Motorsport suggesting he is at least as good as any other new driver and better than most Japanese drivers that have made it to F1. But Sato struggled so far this year and this upcoming event will be a deciding race for him, and a true test of the progress the team have made.

BAR

With the update to the car having been tested extensively since the last race and the Nurburgring track being requiring more aero than power, BAR can expect to revive their fortunes in Germany.

Canada brought an early end to Jacques Villeneuve's race, but also saw Olivier Panis make his first finish of the year. However, bear in mind that even if the new Honda engine makes an appearance at this race, it will only be for qualifying and wouldn't be used in the race due to unknown reliability.

With the race expected to run in cooler conditions, this should suit the Bridgestone tyres and improve the car's reliability, adding further good signals for the team's weekend.

Jaguar

With still no update for the car, Jaguar are again holding out all weekend for a good race result from reliability and durable Michelin tyres. Unfortunately, both their reliability and the Michelins in colder weather are suspect, so both Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa can expect yet another tough weekend.

Arrows

Arrows have a car that goes well on high downforce tracks and have a chassis that exhibits good mechanical grip, but somewhere along the way the car never provides the results it should. Again the next race is good on paper for the team, but like Sauber they seem to need a better tyre from Bridgestone to up their pace. They also take lot of the weekend to set the car up, so lost time from bad weather, red flags or unreliability take the momentum out of their weekend.

Nevertheless, when running in the race with no problems, the Arrows drivers are finding themselves outpacing much of the opposition, so reliability and a good qualifying is all that is needed to show the team's true abilities.

Toyota

Nurburgring is another circuit that Toyota have tested on and do have some data about, even if it was accumulated with the old car and on the 2001 circuit's layout. They have been working on the car's deficiencies in testing and the car's compliance over the kerbs should have been improved, which should allow the team to return to the form they displayed before Monaco.

As with all midfield teams, qualifying at the rear of the field compromises their races, limiting their strategy, risking more accidents and leaving too far behind the field to challenge for points at the end of the race. The team need to find their set-up early and work towards qualifying to seal their chance of more points in the race.

Minardi

Minardi's strength is their enthusiasm and ingenuity. More development on the car is due to appear, although no surprises can be expected from the team in Germany. Mark Webber will still qualify in front of Alex Yoong, but the Australian cannot expect to be ahead of any other driver unless they have had a disastrous qualifying session.

Past Performance by Current Drivers

	1996		1997		1998		1999		2000		2001		Average Qualifying Position
	Qual	Race	Qual	Race	Qual	Race	Qual	Race	Qual	Race	Qual	Race
M.Schumacher	3	2	2	R	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	1	2.000
Barrichello	5	5	12	M	-	-	15	3	4	4	4	5	9.000
Coulthard	6	3	6	2	-	-	2	R	1	3	5	3	4.000
Raikkonen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	10	9.000
R.Schumacher	-	-	16	M	-	-	4	4	5	R	2	4	6.750
Montoya	-	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-	3	2	3.000
Heidfeld	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	R	10	M	15.000
Massa	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Fisichella	18	13	17	11	-	-	6	R	7	5	15	11	12.166
Sato	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Villeneuve	2	1	1	3	-	-	8	10	9	M	11	9	6.200
Panis	15	R	9	7	-	-	5	9	-	-	13	M	10.500
Trulli	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	2	6	R	7	M	7.666
Button	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11	10	20	13	15.500
Frentzen	10	M	3	6	-	-	1	M	10	M	8	R	6.400
Bernoldi	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	18	M	18.000
Irvine	7	M	7	5	-	-	9	7	8	R	12	7	8.600
de la Rosa	-	-	-	-	-	-	22	M	12	6	16	8	16.666
Yoong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Webber	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Salo	14	DQ	21	12	-	-	12	M	19	M	-	-	16.500
McNish	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-