Despite complaints from the fans and some of the drivers about the changes to the old and historic Hockenheim circuit, the new, shorter, and slower revised track proved to be a pleasant surprise that provided examples and brilliant racing that left racers and spectators satisfied. Richard Barnes looks at why the new circuit is likely to join the world's elite

With the WDC chase wrapped up in France, Sunday's German Grand Prix was nevertheless one of the most-anticipated events of the 2002 season. For once, fan attention wasn't focused solely on the drivers and cars, but more on the pros and cons of architect Hermann Tilke's new Hockenheim design.

The old Hockenheim circuit, with its exorbitant stretches of forest-lined straights, was one of the most distinctive tracks on the modern calendar, a car-breaking horsepower-fest that figuratively separated the men from the boys. While it satisfied Formula One's need for showcasing impressive top speeds, the track fell short in other areas critical to modern F1. The sport's ever-growing concerns about safety and suitability for corporate hospitality were the most obvious, and the circuit's management faced the choice to adapt or die.

Enter Hermann Tilke, the Stuttgart-based track architect responsible for Malaysia's magnificent Sepang circuit, as well as recent modifications to Silverstone, the A1-Ring and Nurburgring. The purists groaned, the historians shuddered, and the suggested changes brought forth renewed declarations that FIA President Max Mosley and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone had gone one step too far by neutering one of the last 'true' individual circuits on the calendar.

Fortunately, F1 fans are like golfers who toss their clubs into the clubhouse pond after a particularly bad round, swearing never to be tainted by the evil game again. You can always count on them to be there, armed with renewed enthusiasm (and usually new clubs) at the next scheduled tee-off time. And, for those who suspended judgement of the new layout until the race itself, the track and its facilities proved a pleasant surprise. With nary a chicane in sight, ample tarred run-off areas for the more adventurous racers, and an overhead wire-cam that scampers alongside the cars as a playful Saint Bernard puppy may strive to keep pace with a greyhound, the news wasn't nearly as gloomy as many had predicted.

Hermann Tilke has an unenviable task each time he undertakes to design or alter a circuit. Most were built to accommodate cars with fat slick tyres, steel brakes, manual gearboxes and human clutch and throttle control. The current technology simply does not lend itself to wheel-to-wheel racing. Tilke's solution is to get the cars braking from near-maximum speed to an absolute crawl, give them a nice wide track for passing room, and let testosterone and blind ambition do the rest. The new Hockenheim hairpin is immediately reminiscent of the Sepang hairpin, and accomplishes the same goal.

The fantastic scrap between Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen proved that Tilke succeeded in that aim. If the drivers are up for it, the new track does provide opportunity for genuine wheel-banging racing. The tarred run-off areas are also a bonus. Some of the newer tracks on the calendar, such as the Hungaroring, provide deadly-dull processional racing, and did so even during the slicks era. Others, like Sepang, have produced thrilling racing, and will become legendary in their own time. The new Hockenheim looks more likely to join the latter group.

The circuit also poses interesting risk and reward possibilities for the drivers. The tarred run-off areas encourage aggression, and McLaren teammates David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen were just two of the drivers who outbraked themselves, but were able to regain the circuit easily - from positions where, on many circuits, they'd have beached in the ubiquitous gravel traps. At the same time, the circuit rewards precision. Ralf Schumacher's neat and tidy lines through the final sector of the lap were in stark contrast to teammate Montoya's customary kerb-hopping style. Ultimately, it was Ralf who benefited with the faster lap-times. This is a circuit that Alain Prost would have relished, the type of layout where looking fast doesn't necessarily mean being fast.

The turnaround couldn't have been more timely for Ralf. After five successive pole positions by Montoya, and gentle but dark rumblings from team boss Sir Frank Williams about his lack of form recently, Ralf needed a convincing weekend. His third and unplanned pitstop may have, once again, demoted him below Montoya in the final standings, but his performance was almost enough to regenerate hope in his WDC credentials. Although, however impressive his qualifying and first two-thirds of the race may have been, his passive nature was once again his downfall.

Ralf is the Hamlet of the current circus, a driver troubled by the state of the sport, but unable or unwilling to do anything about it. Shaking his fist at the reticent Jarno Trulli, while lapping the plagued Renault driver, was nothing more than a meaningless gesture. Brother Michael had blown past the hapless Trulli with no problem at all, just a few laps earlier. Some may attribute this to Michael's 'luck' (or Ralf's lack of luck), but the situation was the result of years of conditioning.

Michael is like Senna, when his car looms large in a backmarker's mirrors, the lapped driver will usually dive out of the way obligingly. For, if they don't, they risk contact during the pass and regal disdain in the paddock afterwards. Ralf, ever the gentleman racer, just doesn't inspire that sort of fear from his rivals. It's a discrepancy that both Michael and Montoya will milk, just as Senna pressed home a similar advantage over Alain Prost.

It wouldn't hurt Ralf to assert himself more strongly over the remainder of the season. While second place in the WDC is still up for grabs, David Coulthard summed it up perfectly - the top drivers aren't interested in racing for second. Kimi Raikkonen broke the mould on Sunday, over-riding his neat phlegmatic instincts to go wheel-to-wheel with Montoya and assert himself. Montoya, for his part, hasn't done anything but assert himself since arriving in F1. Over the long term, Raikkonen and Montoya will come out ahead. Ralf's ultra-cautious and non-confrontational approach will lose fewer points-scoring opportunities over the course of a full season. But, without asserting himself like Michael did early in his career, Ralf will forever be the hapless victim of 'bad luck' in getting through traffic.

Even if Ralf had managed to close up right behind Michael during Sunday's race, few would have expected him to try any sort of serious passing attempt. Ralf needs to turn from dove to hawk, to make things happen for him instead of waiting for them to happen. Learning to curb his natural aggression turned Michael into the complete driver. Learning to curb his natural passiveness could do the same for Ralf. He may bend a few cars in the process, just as Michael did. But, in a season that is already a losing cause, the longer-term benefits may prove more important.