The old Nurburgring circuit used to be known as the Green Hell as the long track running through the woods was by far the toughest challenge on the F1 circuit, until Formula One said farewell to it after Niki Lauda’s fiery accident that nearly cost him his life back in 1976. However, on Sunday even the new version of the track proved to be treacherous for many, including the two Toro Rosso drivers, Scott Speed and Tonio Liuzzi.

After the race started in the dry, rain hit the track, with everyone coming in for wet weather tyres. The two Toro Rosso boys came in pretty much together and fitted the intermediate tyres, but even those weren’t enough to deal with the tropical-style downpour that followed. First Scott and then Tonio crashed off into the gravel at the first corner, in fact it was quite a car park here! Event the miraculous escapee from Saturday’s big qualifying shunt, Lewis Hamilton, also got stuck in the gravel. Then, something never before seen in F1, his McLaren was lifted back on track with a crane and because the Englishman had kept the engine running, he was allowed to continue. 

Sadly, the Toro Rosso boys were unable to do the same, even though the race was actually stopped and re-started behind the Safety Car. If, as sometimes happened in the past, it had been declared a “new race,” then maybe they could have taken part in the rest of the afternoon’s activities. For example, the aforementioned race on the old track when Lauda had his crash, was declared a new race. When the witty Austrian was told that as far as the records are concerned, the part of the race where he got badly burnt never happened, he replied…

“If the race never happened, then where are my bloody ears!”

The bad day meant the team could at least start packing up early. Next stop, after a brief visit to the factory, is the Mugello track near Florence in Italy, where Tonio tests on Tuesday and Scott on Wednesday and Thursday.

STR