Formula 1 2016 Grand Prix Of Europe

[RazorSharkz]

I have been an advocate of Macau being added to F1 for years and all the usual comments come out...

"It's way too narrow"
"They only race in Monaco because of the heritage and would never agree to race on a newly added track that tight"
etc...

Well there you go folks, Baku was good enough for the FIA and it is just as windy and tight.

People love to sight that one hairpin in Macau but that can easily be fixed if the track was upgraded in preparation for F1. The track is like 7 lanes wide for 2/3 of the track! Funnily enough Baku is a lot like Macau in layout, it has the wide modern bits and the twisty old city bits. But unlike Baku it has heritage

I've never seen a race on that track but it seems to be popular with drivers, I saw a yourube video asking F1 drivers what track they would have in their backyard if possible and answers were split between better weather Spa and Macau.

 

[mustafur]

Daniel Ricciardo actually rates it the best track he has driven on.

 

[Robin]

I've never seen a race on that track but it seems to be popular with drivers, I saw a yourube video asking F1 drivers what track they would have in their backyard if possible and answers were split between better weather Spa and Macau.

All the greatest F1 drivers have raced there and nearly all of them will sight how amazing and challenging the track is. It is the most historic track in the Far East and has hosted pretty much all types of racing... touring cars, GT cars, superbikes, Formula 3 etc.

Here's an on board lap,



And here is an F1 car going round it back in the full on V12 era.



Long straights, 90 degree bends, a lot like Baku.

 

[Samus]

I have been an advocate of Macau being added to F1 for years and all the usual comments come out...

"It's way too narrow"
"They only race in Monaco because of the heritage and would never agree to race on a newly added track that tight"
etc...

Well there you go folks, Baku was good enough for the FIA and it is just as windy and tight.

People love to sight that one hairpin in Macau but that can easily be fixed if the track was upgraded in preparation for F1. The track is like 7 lanes wide for 2/3 of the track! Funnily enough Baku is a lot like Macau in layout, it has the wide modern bits and the twisty old city bits.

Macau is single file only for a lot more than Baku will, pretty much all the way up and down the hill, plus it has the hairpin which would be too tight for F1.

 

[Robin]

Macau is single file only for a lot more than Baku will, pretty much all the way up and down the hill, plus it has the hairpin which would be too tight for F1.

They could change the route going down the hill to avoid the hairpin if they really needed to (go straight on at the hairpin and take a later turn to re-join the original track). The hairpin is entirely on an elevated roadway, after you turn in there is a wall on the left with nothing behind or under it but a concrete slope (before the storage tanks), they could knock down that wall and widen the radius of the turn to bring it up to FIA's standards.

 

[Samus]

They could change the route going down the hill to avoid the hairpin if they really needed to (go straight on at the hairpin and take a later turn to re-join the original track). The hairpin is entirely on an elevated roadway, after you turn in there is a wall on the left with nothing behind or under it but a concrete slope (before the storage tanks), they could knock down that wall and widen the radius of the turn to bring it up to FIA's standards.

Still has the issue of most of the track not being wide enough for two cars. The section through the castle is really the only section like that on Baku, everything else is 3-4+ cars wide.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Turn 19 has SAFER barriers on the wall, has F1 ever used SAFER before, except at Indianapolis?

 

[Dylan]

Where is that hahaha

 

[ukfan758]

Turn 19 has SAFER barriers on the wall, has F1 ever used SAFER before, except at Indianapolis?

Interlagos at Subida dos Boxes.

 

[Samus]

Ricciardo says someone will crash at the castle wall, I think the second to last real corner is a much more likely candidate, looks very easy to overcook it and slam straight into the outside wall.

 

[Dennisch]

Rosberg and Button have stated their concerns about the safety in corners 3,7 and 14.

 

[NFSCARBON1]

Actually looking at that hairpin, if the central barrier was moved further over ( roughly where the yellow line is) and the lower section widened to where the barrier used to be then it wouldn't be much different to the hairpin at Monaco.

 

[ukfan758]

Rosberg and Button have stated their concerns about the safety in corners 3,7 and 14.

What's so dangerous about 3 & 7? They're both 90 degree corners.

 

[Dylan]

What's so dangerous about 3 & 7? They're both 90 degree corners.

I think they're upset about the lack of runoff and/or narrow runoff roads.

 

[Samus]

I think they're upset about the lack of runoff and/or narrow runoff roads.

Yup.

Drivers quick to criticise Baku's new street circuit ahead of European Grand Prix

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/formula-...ticise-bakus-new-street-circuit-ahead-of-eur/

Button, the most experienced driver on the grid, said: “It is a concern for everyone if you have a failure. Turn Three, seven and 14, there is very little run off.

"The speeds are going to be higher than Monaco. I was surprised. It is more the heavy breaking corners that are going to be a little bit worrying. Turn Three is probably the biggest one. And Turn Seven you have three TECPRO barriers and then concrete. There is no room for errors. Nothing."

 

[Chris123]

I'm expecting more than a few crashes this weekend

 

[Liquid]

If this race does turn into a crashfest with bottleneck blockages, then heads must surely roll for not foreseeing such an eventuality. We're all anticipating it and it would be beyond absurd for the circus organisers to have not anticipated likewise.

However as street tracks go, it certainly has potential to be a great one. I actually like the fact that there is very little run off in the 90 degree corners. It's reminiscent of some of the older tracks like Phoenix and Detroit which, whilst not classics in their own right, did challenge drivers to be cuter and cleverer with their overtakes. No Tilkedrome car parks with acres of space to overshoot your reckless driving. It'll make the drivers concentrate a bit more and hopefully foster some good, old-fashioned racing.

Nitpick: I'd rather it was the Azeri Grand Prix than the European Grand Prix

 

[ukfan758]

Yup.

Drivers quick to criticise Baku's new street circuit ahead of European Grand Prix

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/formula-...ticise-bakus-new-street-circuit-ahead-of-eur/

Hopefully they have lots of tec-pro barriers at those corners if an accident occurs.

 

[Samus]

Hopefully they have lots of tec-pro barriers at those corners if an accident occurs.

That is exactly the issue he has, not enough protection before the concrete because there is no room. He has a point, under normal scenarios it should be fine but given the high speeds I dread to think what would happen in the event of a Webber style crash throiuthe air, or a car failure.



It's not really a problem in Monaco because of the relatively low speed but here they're going to be over 150mph going into many corners.

 

[ukfan758]

@Jimlaad43 mentioned it earlier for turn 19, but there's safer barriers at turn 13 as well:

Courtesy of F1 Fanatic.


Those will definitely help with potential side impacts.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I've always loved the idea of seeing F1 cars tackle the chicanes on the Surfers Paradise street circuit, so if any of the long straights are deemed too dangerous a set of tricky curbs could be setup overnight and I'd be quite happy.

 

[mustafur]

Button has a good point though, this track is fast meaning collisions at these points will likely be massive.

 

[Samus]

Turn 7 does look like the biggest worry, there is a long-ish straight onto it and if someone attempts a pass and gets it wrong, nowhere to go.

 

[TenEightyOne]

There will be at least one full Safety Car deployment in the race. I'm calling it now, as 13 year olds say in Drift threads.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

If this race does turn into a crashfest with bottleneck blockages, then heads must surely roll for not foreseeing such an eventuality. We're all anticipating it and it would be beyond absurd for the circus organisers to have not anticipated likewise.

I can't really see it being an enormous problem - the drivers will figure out how quickly they can take the narrow bits early on, so the most likely cause of problems will be a mechanical failure. And if that's reason enough for heads to roll, then all heads at all circuits should roll, because any accident has the potential to block the circuit. Remember Räikkönen's crash coming out of Aintree at Silverstone? It effectively blocked the circuit. The narrows of Baku are a risk, but it has been deliberately designed to limit the entry speed.

It's more likely to be a problem in GP2, because let's be honest, we all know Artem Markelov is going to pass someone through there.

 

[ukfan758]

GP2 practice is finished, only one driver had an issue at T8 but lots of drivers ran into the runoff areas at various portions of the circuit. Lap times got down to the low 1:55s

Edit: There was also a van parked in a runoff area.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Ooooh, that pit entry looks awkward. Surely they could extend the entry lane back another two hundred metres or so.

 

[ukfan758]

Ooooh, that pit entry looks awkward. Surely they could extend the entry lane back another two hundred metres or so.

The first thing I saw was the wall angle it made for the chicane, but with that shot, the entry is quite akward. It appears that the drivers will have to brake to around pit limiter speed while still on the track itself, all while cars close by are going 200+ mph.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

It appears that the drivers will have to brake to around pit limiter speed while still on the track itself, all while cars close by are going 200+ mph.

That probably explains the way the entry lane takes up half the width of the circuit. Judging by Marciello's position on the circuit, the racing line gives the entry lane a wide berth, and I expect that those who are pitting will keep hard to the left coming out of the final corner.

 

[NW48]

I'm liking this track the more I read about it, and so far in FP1, it looks pretty good. Facilities and the environment look great, and the houses that line the track, lucky sods they are. Great view from the looks of things.