Looks like a great track, although I haven't seen any video footage yet. I count 7 decreasing radius turns. It has several straight aways and several hair pins. I think I like it.
It is a fantastic track only problem being the amount of sand being blown around, i know that a lot of team principals led by Ron D have asked Bernie to relax the 1 engine rule, if he doesnt the safety car will win only one still running. interesting viewing.
It is interesting to drive indeed. I drove it all week in my sim and got some feel for it now: You have in essence two very long straights with hard braking zones at the end. Good for passing. The infield has a series of quick left and rights (kinda like Senna esses), very thight and IMHO no room for passing. The hairpin in the middle is very tricky as it is not a 180 turn, but almost a double turn, hard to find the braking point. Lastly there is a series of fast 90 degree turns. If you get them right, they are almost like an endless carousel ride. Perfect to bring the car to the limit on understeering, control it with the gas instead of the steering wheel. All in all an interesting mix. I found a Silverstone like setup to work best. Not so surprising as you have to find a compromise between fast long stretches and some twitchy infield with the stress on the long straights. PS: I also already drove Shanghai. Very different story though.
Wasn't it during the practice that practically every car was sliding off the track? I didn't see it, but that's what I heard. I'm hoping the race isn't going to be that way.
The Only reason that Ron Dennis want to relax the 1 engine rule is so that his pretty boy Kimi will not be docked 10 places on the grid because of an engine fire in practice #2. The track does look interesting but the surounding area around the track is bland and boring. As for the dust you do see a lot of it being kicked up when the cars go off line. The most interesting thing i noticed today was the number of Michelin tires caomming apart or going flat. It this keeps up it will be a great sunday for Ferrari Rob
Personally the layout reminds me more of Barcelona. However the track is nothing like either (A1 or Barcelona) as there are barely any elevation changes (huge changes in Spielberg) and the turns are really different. It does have its own feel I would say. Also nice that they followed the new "standard" for F1 tracks to be wide with forgiving run off areas (concrete in many places). But as I thought from the sim it is tricky and technical and MS confirmed that in the interview. I have to second Rob's statement about the environment after seeing it now live on TV: Very bleak. And 65,000 spectator seats ain't much, but obviously they got plenty of room to grow and add stands. Personally I would put the track into the middle of my list. I don't hate it like Magny Cours, with which it shares the flat surface and the barren landscape. But it ain't no Spa either with its history and layout. However I do appreciate the fact, that we have a track in the Middle East. F1 ought to be a global business, even if that means somewhat inconvenient watching times, but I do applaud Bernie in taking it a bit out of Europe and dispersing it around the globe (although he is doing that for other reasons).
I think the track is interesting! I agree that it is similar to the A-1 ring and its not my favorite track, but I enjoy it. This of course coming from someone who actually loves Magny Cours
This Sunday should be alot of fun for Ferrari. The Bridgestones seemed to hold up better on Friday during practice. I didn't get a chance to see qualifying so i don't know how they held up then.
