F1 must conquer the Nordschleife

Formula 1's mission statement is "to unleash the greatest racing spectacle on the planet". So to see Porsche and, by association, the World Endurance Championship that the marque has forsaken, steal its thunder by unofficially breaking Stefan Bellof's legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife lap record will have stung.

The Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo is, to co-opt another of F1's marketing slogans, a brilliant piece of "engineered insanity". The feat of lapping almost a minute faster than the record at the 'Ring is exactly what F1 not only should be doing, but explicitly wants to do.

It ticks all the boxes. It's a hit on social media, it showcases Porsche's technical brilliance, it is living proof of just how fast a racing car can be, and it appeals to the gaming fans that motorsport is so keen to draw in thanks to the Nordschleife's reputation (even for those who pay no attention to racing) as the ultimate track.

Oh, and it was just a brilliant thing to do for its own sake. What's not to like about taking an already stunningly fast racing car, piling on more downforce, removing some of the power restrictions and then taking it on a record-breaking tour? Hats off to Porsche for doing something brilliant.

For Porsche, this is a low-cost way to get some more life and a marketing hit out of a car it spent hundreds of millions on - doubtless to the delight of its engineers. But it has also thrown down a challenge that F1 cannot ignore. The question of how fast a grand prix car can go around the Nordschleife is one that needs to be answered.

While there hasn't been a grand prix held on the Nordschleife since 1976, the year of Niki Lauda's near-fatal shunt, F1 has occasionally dabbled with the track. Whenever F1 has raced on the new and largely unloved Nurburgring grand prix layout, manufacturers have staged PR activities on what might be termed the 'real' 'Ring.

In 2007, BMW Sauber did its own publicity-seeking demo run with Nick Heidfeld lapping the full track. It wasn't a record attempt; as you can see from the onboard he's driving conservatively but leaning on it when he can. The lap time released was 8m34s, but that was including the grand prix track, which counts for around 90s.

Porsche's lap was clocked at 5m19.5s, so given Heidfeld probably lapped the Nordschleife itself in (by a conservative estimate) seven minutes while cruising, that's well within striking distance.

Also, as the top speed claimed by BMW Sauber back in 2007 was 171mph (50mph down on the Porsche), and the onboard footage shows Heidfeld was attacking less than Timo Bernhard did on his brilliant 919 Evo lap, then the record could surely be broken - doubly so given today's cars are a little quicker than F1 machines of 11 years ago.

This is exactly the kind of challenge that appeals to any F1 engineer. Force India technical director Andrew Green was asked about whether he'd fancy such a challenge in Austria last weekend.

"Love to," was his verdict on the possibility. "It might need a bit of a set-up tweak, but we'd give it a go.

"I'd put my money on an F1 car taking the record. If we were given enough freedom, we'd give it a good go" Andrew Green

"[There would be] no problems about taking off [over the many rises such as the Flugplatz]. We might have to lift a bit for some of the bottoming events but the rest of the time it would be pretty quick. I'd put my money on it taking the record. If we were given enough freedom, we'd give it a good go."

The footage of a modern F1 car going damn-near hell-for-leather around the Nordschleife would be incredible. The track is narrow and the feeling of speed is a far cry from the relatively sedate visuals of the average grand prix track.

Just look at last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix. The Red Bull Ring, 500 or so miles from the Nurburgring, is an underrated and challenging track. The number of crunched front wings and damaged suspension components from the 2018 race is testament to the precision needed to extract a quick lap time at the circuit.

But to watch the footage, it just looks like another track with lots of margin for error - albeit a beautifully picturesque one. What the drivers are doing in the car is not easy, quite the opposite, but it lacks the jaw-dropping impact of watching Bernhard thread the Porsche through the eye of the Nordschleife needle, created by the Armco barriers that line that track and separate the car from the trees.

It's precisely this quality that has made the Nordschleife a track that transcends motorsport. It's a Mecca for car enthusiasts and, thanks to its presence on multiple racing games and the countless videos of it posted online, it's the gold standard for driving challenge. F1 keeps talking about wanting to draw in new fans, well here's a way to do it.

It's not without precedent. Red Bull has made a habit of putting its cars in unusual places. Max Verstappen demoed a Toro Rosso on the Kitzbuhel ski run in Austria's Tyrol mountains in 2016.

And while that was a relatively simple exercise, remember Honda's Bonneville 400 speed record back in 2006? Then, Alan van der Merwe clocked an F1 speed record of 246.9mph on the Bonneville Salt flats in a modified 2005 BAR-Honda. Largely a genuine F1 machine, the main difference was the rear wing being replaced by a tail fin/rudder for stability.

That was a marketing exercise (hence the name, even though they fell short of 400km/h on the official run having apparently broken it in testing) and one that was well worth doing. Realistically, for it to happen today it would again require a manufacturer to get behind it.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff was asked if he could imagine attempting the record with a grand prix car. He certainly could, and like most in the F1 paddock loved the idea.

"It's obviously incredible, what they have achieved," said Wolff - who has plenty of experience of the Nordschleife. "I've spoken with the guys this morning and they've said it's just unbelievable, it's like flying a spaceship around the track.

"It would be interesting to put a Formula 1 car on the Nordschleife and see what it does, but that's more my spin than a realistic idea that somebody's going to finance."

And there's the rub - even though the cars exist, it would require resource to be put into such a project. And neither Wolff, nor any other team, would divert that from the race team for a fun but ultimately pointless endeavour. But maybe a manufacturer could be tempted to throw in a few extra marketing dollars to make it a reality.

F1's sporting regulations do tightly control what can and cannot be done. This covers testing of current cars (defined this year as 2017-19 cars), testing of previous cars (defined this year as '14-16 cars), and testing of historic cars ('13 and earlier).

'Current' cars are strictly limited in terms of what running they can do outside of race weekends and official testing. It is permissible to complete two demonstration events, but these cannot exceed 15km in length and demo tyres must be used.

An F1 record run at the 'Ring would be the living embodiment of engineered insanity

'Previous' cars must run in their period specification (to prevent test hacks being created to circumvent regulations) - and can be used freely provided they use tyres specifically manufactured for the purpose. The same applies to historic cars.

It would be relatively easy to use a 'previous' car but ideally it should be a contemporary car for maximum impact. So, this would need agreement to allow such a special project to be undertaken. It might also require some bespoke tyres from Pirelli to give maximum grip.

Ideally, the car should be as close to the current regulations as possible. The Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo is an unrestricted development of the LMP1 machine, unencumbered by limits on hybrid energy. F1 cars, too, are restricted on how much electrical energy can be drawn from the battery and deployed by the MGU-K per lap.

But the 4MJ limit is designed for F1 circuits that stretch from 2.074 miles (Monaco) to 4.352 miles (Spa). At 12.9 miles, the Nordschleife is not a normal circuit so ideally more energy should be deployable per lap - provided, of course, it's possible to harvest enough, which could prove to be a challenge at a circuit which has a lot of more gentle braking events.

The unusual track configuration also raises the question of safety. Coming back to Wolff, he's a driver who knows all about how the Nordschleife can bite after suffering an enormous crash there nine years ago after his own successful record attempt (lapping in just over seven minutes in a slightly less extreme Porsche, which was nonetheless a proper piece of driving).

Modern F1 cars are supremely safe - just as LMP1 cars are. But the nature of the circuit means there is risk involved with lapping at that kind of speed, and it would be wise to avoid getting into an escalating war of trying to break unofficial records. But for a one-off attempt to show to everyone that F1 cars are the fastest cars on the planet around a track like that, it should be irresistible.

Regardless of the detail of the arguments and complaints about modern grand prix cars, for all of F1's attempts to present itself as extreme, it just lacks the visuals to match that desire.

These cars are stunningly fast, and difficult to drive without cutting-edge technology. What F1 lacks to the wider world is the raw, rough edges that best showcase those elements. The 'Ring is the roughest of rough edges in a sanitised world.

There's never again going to be a grand prix on the Nordschleife, and if there was, everyone would likely complain about it being processional and there being no overtaking.

But a record run at the 'Ring would be the living embodiment of engineered insanity.