Comments on: 2009 F1 tracks compared

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:57:10 +0000

Are the top speeds on here the speeds recorded in speed traps or the actual top speeds reached during laps?

Cause I’m pretty sure alot of them are incorrect, f1 cars should easily be hitting 200mph on most of those long straights

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:17:44 +0000

I’m curious about some things here.

As far as the (relatively) current tracks go, do we have the data in these categories for Fuji, Hockenheim, Montreal, Indianapolis, and perhaps Imola? If so, could someone please post it?

Also, it would be nice to know just what these figures were for Catalunya (before the chicane and tightened hairpin), as well as the Nurburgring (before the Mercedes Arena was added) and Hockenheim (before 2002).

By: Nik

Nik — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:00:56 +0000

Nice, though personally I’d have it going clockwise

By: jose

jose — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:12:40 +0000

Thanks, Keith – amazing to see Fittipaldi didn’t flip sideways…

By: Keith Collantine

Keith Collantine — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:05:24 +0000

That was the 1993 Italian Grand Prix, and it was Christian Fittipaldi who hit the back of team mate Pierluigi Martini's car: Martini finished seventh, Fittipaldi eighth. Unsurprisingly, there were cross words between the pair afterwards...

By: jose

jose — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:54:43 +0000

Anyone here know details of a Monza race years ago (90′s?), where one F1 car touched the back wheel of the car in front at 320Km/h on the Rettifilo home straight, flipped up a complete 360d in the air, landed on four wheels and finished third?

Did I dream this, or did it really happen?

By: Oxley_K

Oxley_K — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:12:03 +0000

I would absolutly love to see F1 back at Mosport. Not many corners but each one is very unique!

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 24 May 2009 05:07:44 +0000

Though it would never happen, F1 cars visiting Daytona to run the road course in July would be pretty cool. Also it does lack the technicality of most road courses, but it has 31 and 18 degree banked turns which would really let the F1 cars stretch their legs. It would be a nice mix of ultimate flat out high speed mixed with medium to low speed sections. Not to mention three wide F1 cars maxed out at night would be a sight. Perhaps though the brakes would not lend themselves to the long flat out sections then hard braking into the infield road course. Also I think it would make it really stand out for people here in the states, seeing the F1 cars run in the same time frame as the Nationwide and Sprint Cup cars, and then the Grand-Am cars. Some part of three wide F1 under the lights in Daytona must appeal to someone right?(perhaps not the drivers, tires or brakes.) I would like to see F1 run the Daytona road course at night is what I’m getting at obviously, it could only add to the lineup of tracks already on the schedule, not to mention stand out. Maybe I’m just way out of line with this thinking, it’s only a daydream after all. I doubt TPTB in the F1 would would even consider it though. The airport however is located directly behind the speedway though for easy access from over seas!

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 23 May 2009 03:38:41 +0000

With the Hanford Device/Gurney Flap, restricted engines, and aero packages being run, IndyCars run flat-out the entire lap on the ovals that are more than a mile in length.

I think the throttle figures at Sa and Monza have been pushing towards 73-75% of late. I’m a bit dubious of that flat-out distance for Shanghai; I’m pretty sure the straight itself is no more than about 1100m, and the preceding corner is not long enough to make up the remainder, I don’t think. Aside from that, it seems odd that the slipstream down the main straight at Monza would be so much more apparent if the flat-out run there is shorter. I know the straight itself at Fuji is 1475m, so I’m guessing a flat-out run of close to 1400m at that track.

I’m fairly certain that top speeds at Interlagos and Suzuka are pushing 320km/h, and that Fuji is pretty close to that. From what I recall, they’re doing about 330km/h before Les Combes at Spa. At the end of Hangar Straight on Silverstone, they’re pulling about 306km/h (190mph).

I think it was DC who clocked in at 367.4km/h during the 2002 or 2004 Italian GP.

The old Hockenheim, where a Jag could outrun a Ferrari, was great! And since they were trimmed out for the straights, the entry into the Stadium Complex was a wonderful overtaking spot, while the drivers were on edge with low downforce going through the Stadium.

Finally, yes, there should be a nice variety of circuits on the F1 calendar, but a real attempt should be made so that ALL of them have some true character.

By: Dan Thorn

Dan Thorn — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:49:39 +0000

I thought the highest speed achieved at a race weekend was by Gerhard Berger in 1986, possibly at Hockenheim? I read a while back that his Benetton was achieving speeds in excess of 375km/h.

I remember when F1 first went to the A1-Ring – it was considered an aberration compared to the Osterreichring and yet 12 years later we’d be quite happy to have it back, such is the boredom of the newer circuits!

The dull similarities of all of the new circuits is plain to see – At Shanghai and Sepang Turns 1 and 2 are very similar. Bahrain, Istanbul and Shanghai all also have a left-right-left sequence of S-Bends halfway round the lap followed by a slow right hander (left hander in the case of Shanghai) and the the supposedly ‘Unique’ corner on each track (Turn 8 in Istanbul, Turns 12/13 in Shanghai and Turns 9/10 in Bahrain). There’s no imagination or challenges unique to either of them…

Greater variation would be brilliant. I think it would be great to see F1 cars on the full La Sarthe circuit for instance. I wouldn’t be opposed to one oval race either – with F1 being the pinnacle of motorsport it seems only fair that it should visit every type of circuit.