“Anybody who says they liked the original circuit is either telling a fib or they didn’t go fast enough.” So said Jackie Stewart. In 1968, at the German Grand Prix, there was standing water on the track when the flag fell for the start – and many teams dropped out in the first few laps. But not Jackie Stewart (a Scot untroubled by bad weather), who was able to extend his lead and scoop a dramatic victory, thanks to both his superlative driving and the benefit of new rain tyres. It was, of course, Stewart who coined the term ‘Green Hell’ to describe the dangerously challenging track. “When you got back to the pits you just thanked God you were in one piece,” he said.

But Stewart is just one of many ‘Lords of the Ring’: Clark, Lauda and Rindt, for example, each had their own experiences here, both tragic and happy.