Why The Hockenheimring is Abandoned in a forest 

The security was always a joke at Hockenheimring. My dad drove after the race with a local over the track to avoid traffic. They where stoped asked what they doing. They said they are from RTL and collecting TV cable and passed (1994)

Hockenheimring was such a great track. It's a shame it's been abandoned, but hopefully one day it'll be restored to its former glory.

It is a shame that this amazing track has been killed off. The sight and sound of the V10s and V12 of the 90s running flat out through the forest, it was an amazing track. A classic, that should have been kept.

The old Hockenheimring layout was a true engine track, so as long as the car have a strong engine, will be competitive there, which is one thing that really miss from the tracks in the current calendar.

It's very sad that is abandoned tbh. It was a very interesting scene racing in the forest. Also it produced some of the most iconic moments in F1 History.

The story I know goes a bit differently. Nobody forced Hockenheim to be changed. The thing was that the entry fees for the tracks were already getting more and more expensive back then and the track operators simply wanted a shorter track where they could put up several new grandstands on top of that in order to sell more tickets. Safety and maintenance costs for the long forest sections also played a role, of course.

2002 was a terrible shock to me. No one told me they were changing it and it was my favorite track in F1 World championship on N64. I was furious. Excellent tribute.

Man, I remember how Ruben Barrichello winning that race in 2000 coming from 18th place. It was still the huge track with sweeping tree lines.

Super iconic track layout back in the day. A shame it was neutered and even bigger shame it's not on the calendar anymore.

I can understand why they did for safety but watching on TV, seeing those cars zooming down deep through the forest was an awesome sight.

With every track in F1 being so full of curves, Hockenheim was a breath of fresh air. The grandstand was also wonderful to watch as the crowd would rise in anticipation of the cars coming into sight. On other circuits they stick stands anywhere, mostly as an afterthought. The cars themselves were front and center of the race. On TV it shined--must have been one of my favourite circuits to watch.

I actually visited the site on a very foggy November day two years ago. Had a great walk in the woods trying to trace the old track and found the hidden Jim Clark memorial. Would recommend!

It breaks my heart, to see this legendary track covert with grass. It was like german Le Mans, high speed, the ultimate engine test for formula 1 cars. I miss this track so much.

I used to live in Hockenheim and in the 80's it was great to walk into the forest taking a campinchair with you and find a good place to watch and HEAR Senna, Piquet and Prost in the Turbocharged F1 Cars. Was a great time

Grew up a few kilometers away from Hockenheim and been there for a couple of events. It's always been amazing to hear the engines on race weekends while sitting in front of the tv and watching the race. And it's a shame what they did to the layout. Loved the old long circuit but I can't get used to the new layout.

It's greatly missed. In these days we have a lot of tracks with 20 corners or so. Hockenheim would have been a breath of fresh air.

This is what Hermann Tilke said about the track reconfiguration: *“The original idea was just to broaden the existing track according to current safety regulations, and to keep the track to its original length. At that time the restrictions and possibilities the site offered were not clear however and the idea eventually proved unfeasible.”* Plus the costs of maintaining such a large venue was a major factor in the track layout change.

I was there from 1999 to 2002 and on my first visit I had a ticket for the first chicane, after the first full-throttle straight. At that time there were still these wonderful high-revving V12 engines. Needless to say, even getting there during a training session was completely insane: those engines shrieked, howled, banged and thundered so hard you thought it was war and a supersonic jet flies by while a main battle tank fires. Every time my hair stood up with joy and I got goosebumps. Before braking for the chicane, the drivers shifted down the gears and the misfires made the F1 cars bang so hard that the earth shook. David Coulthard set a new speed record for this track and we were the happiest people in the world because that sound was so awesome. It smelled of burnt rubber, of burnt oil-petrol mixture and the air was flirty. F1 was so loud and dirty back then, nothing compared to today. And really no one was worried about the environment or had a bad conscience. Man I miss those times.

I remember watching Barichello win the 2000 gp like it was yesterday.. such a beautiful place to race, the view of the forest, half track wet from the rain and the other half dry, what a race, I truly miss it.

I miss Hockenheim so much. It deserves another go 😢

I remember watching a couple races in the late 90s and thought how cool it was that they were driving in a forest.

This is the one track I truly miss,so many amazing races there. I am a huge Hakkinen fan so I think there's one overtaking move that ranks right up there as one of the greatest ever! 👌

The greatest thing about the old track was the different set ups required. It was a gamble that teams needed to make, and made for great racing.

I used to have a racing sim game that had the old Hockenheimring circuit. I loved that track. My favorite part was coming out of the forest section and entering the stadium sections at full tilt. I wish I could remember the games title.

Sometimes it's spooky. Yesterday I googled some things about Jim Clark and planned to visit his memorial at the Hockenheimring. And less than 24 hours later you come up with this video. First of all: I think Germany needs an F1 Grand Prix again. We don't have a driver who can win the championship but I think the German F1 Fans are growing again. I loved the old Hockenheimring for its uniqueness but not for the layout. Another point was that Michael Schumacher had some bad luck in Hockenheim, that's why anticipation wasn't that high back then 😀

One of the coolest circuits F1 has ever raced at imo. I watched 2019 live and it was one of the most insane races I've ever seen.

Hi, living near that forest section and been there several times already. It's not really isolated as stated in this video. First off the forest itself is not that large, there is a road going right through it to connect the towns of Oftersheim and Walldorf. Driving through there takes about two to three minutes. Walking from the road on the ring's side to the other end of the forest is possible. And then there are also many visitors walking their dogs, doing sports or going for a walk with their kids. And the forest administration is maintaining it all year long doing wood works etc. It mostly is a small low density forest with lots of straight paths in between three towns, that is being used for relaxation.

I loved 500cc gp and wsb in the 90s around this track. Some of the best races.

I miss the big, old circuits of the early days. I'd love to see races that take four or five minutes a lap instead of the one and a half minutes we get now.

Love it when you make Hockenheim videos. I know that you‘re a big fan of it. And coming from germany and watching Schumi every weekend and playing the f1 games as a child, Hockenheim holds a special place in my heart.

Never been an F1 fan but a massive World Superbikes fan. Many incredible races here with the performance set up and heroic outbraking at the entry to the chicanes. A true test of machine, strategy and rider skill. Much missed.

Thanks for that high speed trip down memory lane. Hockenheim was such a special race. Almost like a high speed oval, with a few chicanes and a small race track, just to confound the aerodynamicists and scare the drivers even more. Why the track owners could not build a few grandstands for the spectators, is a question that has never been answered. Any real F1 fan would rather have seen Barcelona or Monaco omitted instead of a true icons of speed. I feel blessed to have seen this track in its glory days when the cars were at their fastest and lightest. You are sadly missed.❤

I grew up 5 minutes away from the circuit you can still walk around parts of the old layout which is pretty cool as an F1 fan ✌🏼 too bad that it is not on the calendar anymore!

I'm so heartbroken that this GREAT track is left to die. It was the host of some truly awesome moments in the 90s such as NIgel Mansell's victory in '92 and Gerhard Berger's incredible drive in '97 (truly one of the greatest moments of the 90s.)

Sad that it has been abandoned! When I was a kid I used to do a lot of sim racing (sports car GT if anyone remembers that beast of a game :D) and Hockenheim was my favourite circuit

I remember recoiling in horror when I saw what Tilke did to the Hockenheimring. Another one of the great circuits, lost forever.

I'm living in a neighbour town from Hockenheim and this forest is my daily race track with the bicycle :D

It's a shame that such a great motorsport country has almost completely quit the F1. No more tracks, no more young drivers, no perspective. 😞 Only the 24h at Nürburgring is still a great event.

Living very close to Hockenheimring it always was awesome to hear those cars in the garden like 3 villages away

the old hockenheim ring was one of the most interesting circuits. The stadium section, as seen today was sweeping and twisty requiring a high downforce yet the rest of the circuits was exceptionally high speed, through a forest with vast overtaking opportunities and a narrow track which made it interesting. Cars often struggled to finish, engines blew up, cars were hard to setup, and weather varied from one side of the track to the other. It was an ideal weekend for a variable, unconventional and unpredictable raceday of which made it so exciting. A lot of legendry circuits and features on circuits are being lost. The nurbergring gp of 2001 was far better with the castrol s first chicane. Magneycours was far better than paul ricard where every corner seems the same. hockenheim forest circuit was lost. silverstones old 2005 circuit was far better with bridge. I honestly think tracks are getting worse.

Through a previous job, I got to drive the old Hockenheimring a couple of times in some reasonably serious road cars. Still one of my favourite things I've done. Coming out of the stadium section and seeing the track entering the forest was just magical. One afternoon I also walked out alongside the track to the Jim Clark Memorial. As a huge fan of all things Lotus, I felt it was something I needed to do. Hearing the V8 and V12's on the track while I was standing at the memorial was very poignant. Sadly, they moved the memorial to be just outside the track, but apparently there's still a marker for the original site though. There was always something about the place. Especially after some rain. With the spray hanging around in the forest section for a long time after the stadium was pretty much dry. The new layout, just doesn't feel right. In some ways, I wish they'd have gone from the Clark chicane back to the stadium rather than from the stadium section to the Senna chicane so there was still a blast through the trees.

I was there as a tourist in '94 and forever embedded in my memory was the absolutely awesome sound of that era's F1 cars screaming through the forest as I was walking alongside the track. I loved the track for it's huge and fast straights and the fact that it really WAS a challenge to finish - the perfect F1 experience. As soon as that forest section was removed, it became just yet another sanitised track and the challenge was gone. I feel the steady homogenisation of F1 has reduced it to a shadow of it's former self.

Sad to hear this. When I lived in Heidelberg in the late 80's I used to ride my bike through the forest to the Hockenheim track.

One reason why I will occasionally boot up F1 99-02. Trying to keep up with top teams through forests with Minardi always is fun.

I used to absolutely LOVE this old track in computer racing games. I wish I had been able to visit it in person...

This was my favourite track on the Microprose F1 GP game in the early 90s. Thanks for a bit of nostalgia!

I live near Hockenheim in a city called Leimen (Heidelberg) and its a shame that they abandoned it there is so much more forest like in Sandhausen or even in Hockenheim or Walldorf it would be completely sufficient for nature

The Old Hockenheimring layout is my favorite for the amount for the outright speed and nothing less. Monza comes second being a speed track and its established history. I only respect the change to the track layout for reclaiming the land and planting those trees.

I'd just wish that modern race sims or semi sims like Forza and GT would add old layouts like this, since there is no other way to truly enjoy them now that they're gone.

The very 1st time I saw this track was in the very 1st Formula 1 game for the ps1. It INSTANTLY became my favorite track.

I grew up near the Hockenheimring, the old track was great. If there were no races or test drives, we used to ride the part of the track in the forest by bike or moped. Access wasn't a problem with a little local knowledge, you just couldn't let the security guards catch you... ;-)

The Hockenheimring was always my favourite !

There is another abandoned race track in Germany: the old south track of the Nürburgring. But it hasn't vanished completely, parts are still used as road and as track for rallye, the rest can still be explored by foot because it wasn't removed... nature just claimes it back more and more.

Great research, awesome tribute to this track, that last part where the engines roared on the abandoned track sent shivers down my spine. Way to go!

My first appreciation of how slipstream works is when I saw an overhead of a Jordan catching a slipstream in the forest section and getting a huge accelerating boost. However, it did make for a less than thrilling race, and I've never disliked the shorter layout, sometimes I think it got flack simply for being the layout that replaced the legendary forest track. Both Nurburgring and Hockenheim are excellent legacy tracks and it sad that F1 can't find room for them.

This circuit in its old form, I miss the most. It was a unique challenge and a great engine test.

I remember when the 500cc Gran Prix motorcycles raced at Hockenheim. Mick Doohan and Kevin Schwantz had some epic battles at this track on the screaming two-stroke race bikes. The speed on those sections in the forest was super fast.

Went to watch the bike GP at Hockenheim in 1991. Basically a massive camping party in the woods! Was a long walk to the Ost Curve to watch the race.

I raced there several times in Formula 3. It was a fabulous circuit to race on, with good opportunities for slipstreaming, which meant very close racing. Great memories from those times.

A track that is also missed is the Adelaide Street Circuit in the Formula 1. After many years Melbourne pitched it from Adelaide, now even though i was introduced to formula one a bit late into my childhood (like 10 years after i was born) i consider the days of formula one before i was born the good old days as they had much better circuits, famous names, and really nice cars

I *loved* the old circuit through the forest! It was awesome! This circuit was unique and it's a real shame that it has been abandoned like this.

100k here we come! Happy to have been rocking with you most of the way there 😎

This track was was criminal good, great slipstream duels, immense stress on engine and breaks it wont get any better than it was 😪

It was a fabulous track. I was a F1 fan in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s and I loved the excitement of watching the cars fly down the track into the forest and you'd never quite know who would be leading when they screamed back into the stadium section. I was very disappointed when it was cut back and essentially ruined. It ended up looking like a twisty, turny mess.

When I was overseas in the early '70s, I saw some very cool racing at Hockenheim. I never would have thought that it would deteriorate to the current state...it was a challenging track, but, as stated in the video, much of the action happened out of sight of the stands.

this was such a great video!!! love the way you deliver the info clearly and concisely

I can't shake the feeling this track would be amazing in original form if revived today with proper safety measures, enough staff, modern media communication systems like remote cameras/camera drones, ect. Great video, I love abandoned structures👌

Very interesting. I hope it gets restored to it's longer version some day. Thank you.

One of the tracks of the golden triangle in my opinion. Nürburgring/Spa/Hockenheim. Racing in its purest form.

I visited the track quite often back in the 2000s mostly to watch the DTM. I always wondered why they layout changed but never did any research so this video was very enlightening to me! Had the pleasure to drive the circuit in the older layout at that time.

Congrats on 100k subs, great content - look forward to seeing more cool stuff like this :)

I started watching F1 during the early 90s and for me the old Hockenheim layout was and is one of the most iconic tracks of the sport alongside with Monaco, Spa and Monza. I understand the old layout had its problems with safety and visibility for the live viewers but that layout was also unique with the long forest straights. It was one of my favourite races to watch from the tv and when they changed the layout to the shorter one I just did not feel the same. Hockenheim became just another boring Tilke track and became rather irrelevant to me. To underline the uniqueness of the track I remind people of the otherwise sad season of '94. The track was so unique that cars which did not have success non the other tracks were able to get good results because of their strong engines. Ferrari(Berger) won with their V12 and the nex podium spots went to Ligier(Panis and Bernard) which had the strong and powerful Renault engine Williams was also using that season. Magny Cours was another track I liked to watch and drive in F1 videogames. I was also sad to see it dropped from the calendar.

My first PC game (The very first I owned! I got the CD for my birthday) was Superbike 2000. My favourite tracks were those with long straights, as they were easier to race the others (I was a noob kid). Monza and Hockenheim. The old Hockenheim. Little did I know this was the last year anyone could race on that layout.

Always loved the tourist drive track days at Hockenheimring when I lived in Germany. They were very rare but it was always fun.

I miss the Hockenheimring, so much great F1 moments happened there and also in the sim games it was fun to drive.

It was such a great track tho.

There was some great World Superbike battles on the old track, was there when Fogarty wrapped up his last title in 1999, had a walk round the forest section when it was quiet, very eerie.. Some great drafting footage and engines letting go from the WSB days..

One of my favorite tracks for sim racing. Low df cars through the stadium section was a lot of fun.

My dad was stationed in heidelburg and the races would wake us on weekends. Me and my pals would ride our bikes to the track and watch for free from the walking paths along the straight! Circa 1991

Original Hockenheim layout was so much better than the 2002 version.

I certainly remember my time being stationed in Germany. I lived in Waldorf and could hear the screaming engines. I remember driving through Hockenheim during race day and could see all the colors....mostly and Ferrari red as Schumi was the man. It would be nice to see the Ring active again. I play GT7, and it would be nice to see the real and iconic track added to the game. Thank you for this video!!

Well done! This is one of my favorite tracks.

"Why The Hockenheimring is Abandoned in a forest" What were they going to do , move the circuit to the beach and abandon it there ?

It was such a great racetrack. I dont know why they spent the money to demolish it, they could have built the new layout and kept the old one for other racing/public access. F1 has been decades without being on the nordschliefe, but it still exists. Other than a walk, or sim racing, no one can ever race this jewel again .

I used to live very close to Hockenheim Ring. Close enough to actually sometimes hear the engine sounds from the race depending on the weather and such. I also remember that there is something called Wettergrenze (which would translate to weather border) right next to the city of Hockenhem and somewhere across the race track. Because of that it is possible that on one side of that border there is heavy rain and on the other side the sun is shining which one could tell is less than ideal for racing.

well put together, thank you.

well... most of the overtakes happened in the forest section. based on this logic, why Spa hasn't been cut to half yet? I'm truly missing the old layout, as well as the double-chicaned Monza :(

It's not just a great track, it has some of the best scenery, it's a catastrophe that they've abandoned it.

World Superbike races at Hockenheim were just the best, I loved watching those so much.

Thank you very much for the nice memories!!!

Personally, I enjoy the new Hockenheimring more than the old one. The new version has a certain character to it that I really love and appreciate while the old layout feels a lot like Monza - enjoyable to drive, always on the edge, but ultimately very similar in nature. It's just a shame that they completely gave up on the old layout rather than preserving it for history.

It's always hard to see things like parts of a track completely grown over with land and trees now. At some point, it was decided that a track in this area would be the best thing and decades later it's decided that it is useless. I've seen documentaries of the history of the Nurburgring and to see that some of that original track is now public roads and people drive on them all the time without know what they are actually driving on. A legacy just gets absorbed into time. It's sad and interesting at the same time.

Really Great Information and Video' Thank you!

Congrats with the 100k! 🥳

I miss the German Monza😭

The old Hockenhiem was the most boring track in F1. Basically three long straights with uninspiring chicanes and a go cart track stadium section. However, the 2000 race was one of the all timers.

Good stuff, I subscribed! ❤

Great video!

Interesting - but that flashing PAUSE is irritating mate.

🔹️👉 Hockemheim GP is better than: Jeddah, Barhain, Qatar, Miami, Las Vegas, Mexico, Baku, Austria, Yas Marina & Australia.😪😪😪 S T I L L, Out of the Calendar alongside Nürburgring