With over 45,000 fans watching, BMW-Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld took to the notorious Nordschleife at Germany’s Nürburgring in his F1.06 racecar. This was the first time in 31 years that a Formula One racer has taken to the famous circuit after the site was dropped from the event’s calendar in 1976 following some spectacular crashes. After watching the pace and fast corners Heidfeld faces in this video, we can understand why.

Heidfeld made three laps of the 20.8 kilometre race track and recorded a fastest time of 8:34 on his second attempt with a top speed of 275 km/h on the “Döttinger Höhe” straight. Sadly, this was purely a promotional event with Heidfeld putting on more of a show than any serious attempt at the lap record.