Preview - European Grand Prix 2002.

This weekend sees Formula One return from Canada to Europe with, appropriately enough, the European Grand Prix.

Held in Germay at the historic Nurburgring location, the track has been altered this year to give a new challenge for all the drivers.

Changes at the circuit amount to the addition of a new 583-metre section called the Mercedes Arena which comes back on itself in the shape of a V increasing the track's length from 4.556km to 5.144km. The alterations to the circuit give a slow series of corners following the new hairpin at turn one, and will add extra complications to what is traditionally a challenging weekend.

Technically, the Nurburgring is quite a challenging track. Although a fast to medium fast circuit, it is one that sees teams run a maximum downforce configuration on their cars. However, that set-up could change for the race if the cars are not starting at the front end of the grid; for they will need their best straight line speed in order to be in a position to overtake, either at the end of the pit straight, or under braking into the back chicane, the two favorite passing points at this track.

Speculation abounds about whether the new complex and first corner will induce first lap incidents. Either way, the weather at the track is something that can almost be counted on to induce some action at some point over the weekend. The location of the track can present numerous challenges. Firstly the track is some 500m above sea level, which saps power from the engines. Secondly, there are often large temperature variations between morning and afternoon at the track making it difficult to quickly dial in a good set-up as the grip level varies so much along with the temperature levels. Thirdly, rain is a frequent visitor to the German track.

Ferrari notched up its 150th Grand Prix victory in Canada. This season so far the Italian team has notched up 86 points with 54 of those going to current championship leader Michael Schumacher. The car has a whole package simply has the advantage this year and it is difficult to see that advantage being closed before the season's out. Michael Schumacher clearly holds the advantage of the Ferrari pairing as even if Rubens is faster, as he has been on occasion, the team with ultimately do everything they can to ensure Schumacher remains top dog.

Williams are currently second in the championship with 54 points.Two engine failures in the last race can't bode too well for the Grove based team, mid race for Juan Pablo, and on the slowing down lap for Ralf, but Canada is a car breaker of a circuit; a repeat performance from the BMW motors in Germany would be unfortunate to say the least. In qualifying Juan Pablo Montoya certainly has the bit between his teeth at the moment and a hattrick of poles would not be unexpected. Ralf was just outside the points in Canada, but is surely due some luck and a good performance.

McLaren on 33 points seem to have upped their game with the victory in Monte Carlo and second place in Canada evidence of this. Whilst it is true that a major ractor in these results has been William's misfortune, it is undeniable that the Woking concern has certainly propelled themselves ahead of the likes of Reanult. DC will be hoping to continue his good form ''I am looking forward to the European Grand Prix, where I will hopefully continue my current run of podium finishes. The results at Monaco and Canada have brought me to within one point of the battle for second place in the World Championship, and I am aiming to consolidate my position at the N?rburgring. It will be interesting to see how the new revisions alter the track, apart from making it slightly longer at 3.196 miles / 5.144kms, which may lead to increased lap times. There is always an enthusiastic atmosphere at the N?rburgring, in particular as it is a home race for Mercedes-Benz so we always have a lot of crowd support.'' Team-mate Raikkonen continues to promise much.

Following the Renault's fifth points-scoring finish of the season in Montr?al, Renault F1 technical director Mike Gascoyne is confident that the team will run strongly on a circuit better suited to the team's strengths at this weekend's European Grand Prix. ''Canada went pretty much as expected - considering Montreal was less suited to our package,'' he explained, ''Jarno posted his second points-scoring finish in a row, and is definitely building some momentum. The whole team did well, and we were pleased to reinforce our fourth position in the championship.'' With the circuit better suited to the Renault's strengths expect Button or Trulli to do well.

Sauber is another team that has been suffering and underperforming of late. Eight points mark their seaon so far, but they were not looking like challenging the points in Canada. If their reliability holds out they could well be back at the action end on the grid come this weekend.

Jordan are looking more tidy these days with Fisichella notching up points in the last three races. Rookie Sato seems to get the majority of the bad luck in the team and his potential is often strangled by insufficient time in the practice and qualifying sessions due to mechanical woes. The team has not tested at a race track since the Canadian Grand Prix and has instead focused on straightline work to assist with their aeordynamic development programme.

Gary Anderson, Director of Race and Test Engineering for the team has, like may, been impressed with Fisi's performance this year: ''Fisichella is a very, very good driver, one of the best. At the beginning of the season we didn't give him a car or engine to match his ability, but we've worked very hard and I think we are moving in the right direction. Giancarlo has responded with a brilliant hat-trick of fifth places and although we're not yet in a position to beat the best teams, we are now giving both drivers something they can work with.''

Jaguar finished in seventh and eighth places last year and the team will again be working hard to get both Jaguar R3's past the chequered flag. Past the flag in a points position is perhaps too much to expect, but pas the flag As for Irvine with pretenders to his job approaching from all directions, a new driver being tested every week seemingly, it will be intersting to see how the Ulsterman responds. Unfortunately the car and package is just not capable of putting in any decent performances unless something very surprising happens

Toyota continue to tick along with what is an excellent debut year for what is an all new ground up team.. Team Principal, ex rallyman, Ove Andersson remains focused on the task, whilst recognising the team's achievements so far: ''We are now over half way in our first Formula 1 season and we have learned a lot. If I compare the team that we have now to the one that we took to Australia for the first race, the difference is unbelievable. We have progressed a long way. Having said that, we will continue to push. For this race we have some new parts for the car, so I hope that we will be more competitive than we were at the last race.''

Minardi should be able to concentrate more on the racing now that news comes of the disputed TV money coming their way has been revealed. It also looks like the team has sold their F3000 operation giving them a few more gold nuggets to be spent. Mark Webber continues to impress with Jaguar being the latest team to take an interest in his services. Alex Yoong doesn't continue to impress.

Arrows continue to promise much and their poor Canadian form can probably be put down to a blip. Heinz-Harald Frentzen is looking forward to the race in native country. He said: ''The European Grand Prix is almost another home race for me, as with Hockenheim and Monaco, I have several of them! I know the track well and there are always a lot of supporters at the race so you usually get a nice atmosphere here. I have already seen the new track layout on television and the changes to the first corner should be safer and that is good. They should also make overtaking easier which should be interesting, but I will wait to see it for myself.'' As for Enrique Bernoldi, continues to put in solid performances and there's no reason to expect anything else in Germany.

The BAR is still proving to be pointless this year. At least Olivier Panis has finally finished his first Grand Prix this year as he explains: ''My first finish in Montr?al was long overdue, but still a huge relief because it is such a tough circuit,'' Panis said, ''I hope it is a turning point for me and I can look forward to better luck during the rest of the season. I'm optimistic because of the improvement we saw there. The team have done a good job with the new car and we have the potential to be much more competitive than we have been so far this year."

Both BAR drivers benefitted from the revised car, Jacques Villeneuve even going as far as praising it, not something that has happened much over the last few seasons. Despite the improvements to the car and the uprated engine for practice and qualifying, it's unlikely that Villeneuve will equal his past performances at the circuit. ''I have fond memories of the N?rburgring,'' Villeneuve said, ''I won my first grand prix at this circuit and my last race win was also here. I've only failed to finish here once in six years, so it's always been quite a successful circuit for me.

''Having said that, it's not a very exciting track to drive, and the fans are too far away to add any visual excitement. Most corners at the N?rburgring are slow, whereas I prefer a circuit with lots of mid-speed and high-speed turns. The first part of the track will be a new experience this year because the first corner has been changed. It looks like the racing might be better than before, because there will be another heavy braking area.''

As regards rubber, Michelin seems to have an advantagefor qualifying at the moment, whereas the Bridgestone/Ferrari combo look best on race performance. There's not much in it however, and it seems to be Michelin who have made the most progress from their starting point this year. About Nurburgring Michelin motorsport director Pierre Dupasquier has his reservations: "The track incorporates a number of quick corners but, unlike Montreal, there is no sustained high-speed running down long straights. The two tyre compounds we will use in Germany have both been developed with this circuit specifically in mind. The weather conditions are a bit like those in Spa, Belgium - about 100 kilometres (60 miles) away as the crow flies. There is always a strong possibility of rain. We also have to bear in mind that the track has been altered and is 583 metres (0.362 miles) longer than before. We have much to learn about the new section."

Over at Bridgestone, they're not giving much away either: "Montreal is not an easy track for which to develop tyres, but we learned from last year's result and carried out a lot testing to produce tyres that allowed our cars to maintain a strong pace throughout the race,'' revealed Bridgestone's director of motorsport Hiroshi Yasukawa, ''Ultimately, a car on our tyres won and that is the result we wanted - it is the only true measure of success. Nevertheless, our work does not stop and we will endeavour to make further improvements for next year. Meanwhile, we are looking forward to racing at the newly revised N?rburgring."

Last year saw Michael Schumacher take the victory ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya and David Coulthard. This year don't be surprised if you see the same 1-2-3.