Indian F1 track design revealed
2011 Indian F1 track design
India is set to host its first F1 Grand Prix in 2011 – and here’s the first glimpse of the track where the race will take place.
The circuit in the Jaypee Greens Sports City bears the usual hallmarks of a Hermann Tilke-designed track. But from this first impression it seems to have some of the open, flowing corners that many modern tracks often lack.
It looks like a circuit in two halves, with several slow corners before and after the main start/finish straight. These are surely intended to increase opportunities for overtaking, something F1 car designers have been demanding recently.
But the other half of the track includes several longer-radius corners and some quick-looking bends. It’s impossible to get any sense of gradient from this flat map, however.
It is an unusually short track – slightly under 5km (3.1 miles). That would make it shorter than any track on this year’s calendar bar the Circuit de Catalunya, Hungaroring, Interlagos and Monte-Carlo.
The circuit is being built by JP Associates which is part of a large industrial conglomerate called the Jaypee Group. The circuit is being built alongside the Yamuna Expressway, a new road being built to connect India’s capital New Delhi with the country’s biggest tourist destination, the Taj Mahal, in the city of Agra.
The road to the Indian Grand Prix has not been completely smooth. The race was originally slated for the 2010 F1 calendar but Bernie Ecclestone confirmed it had been moved back to 2011.
In August this year the government’s sports minister Manohar Singh Gill refused to support race promoter JPSK’s request for money to hold the race, claiming F1 is not a sport. Ecclestone dismissed the minister’s comments saying: “That’s his view. The rest of the world thinks it is a sport.”
What do you think of the 2011 Indian Grand Prix track?
Update: Someone posted an image with the likely location of the Jaypee circuit in the F1 Fanatic drop.io – I’m not sure who it was but thank you! There’s not much to see at the site right now, but here it is anyway:
Thanks to Prisoner Monkeys for posting the link to the official site in the forum.
2011 Indian F1 track design (click to enlarge)
Er… I’m not sure it was me who posted the link, I think it was Prisoner Monkeys. But thanks anyway!
Stupid Flanders!
LOL!!!
Sorry Mr/Mrs/Ms Monkeys. Correct credit duly given!
“It should be sufficient for all F1 Fanatics to know this much – a message in which it is said that Alonso will bin it in Bahrain; that, from one moment to the other, millions of Spanish will cry… there is no longer any point in really wanting to publish this secret message. Many want to know merely out of curiosity, or because of their taste for sensationalism, but they forget that ’to know’ implies for them a responsibility. It is dangerous to want to satisfy one’s curiosity only, if one is convinced that we can do nothing against a catastrophe that has been predicted.”
Wow what does this weird comment mean…
EEEErrrrrr…..
You left your alien ship in a restricted parking area mate ….
time to go home and have anice lie down now… ?
Er Mr Fuhrer, excuse my history, but your profile picture has an uncanny resemblance to Heinrich Himmler, coupled with your Name, I’m not surprised.
Its not cool man, so not cool.
Keith – such people should NOT be allowed to post here.
ME jacto de tu estúpido comentario, lloraremos…? Lloraremos de alegría cundo el coche de alonso aplaste y seplulte al de HAMilton
Wow, they know Alonso on Mars too..???
Tell them back home that being weird is not so cool here on earth.
Very original
Sarcasm?
Actually the credit goes to Prisoner Monkeys who started that thread.
Nevertheless, the circuit looks a bit like Kyalami( Which I like) But without any elevation changes it might still be a bit boring.
I have no idea as to the progress being made on the construction. Perhaps, fellow Indian Fanatics can help us out.
But the satellite imagery(assuming its recent) suggests no activity there.
Assuming the coordinates are correct.
Don’t think it’ll be ready by 2011. New Delhi authorities have enough on their plates without having to think about Formula One. They are racing against time to be ready for the Commonwealth games next year.
It looks as though the circuit has a few corners that might help with overtaking.. :/
Well, with some elevation data, I could try designing this track using Bob’s track builder.
It looks OK to my eyes, but there is still scope for improvisation. One this is certain, the terrain there is very flat. So the elevation has to be induced artificially & its failed miserably in Bahrain,China & Abu Dubai.
Its very unfair to write it off.
The only one circuit I’ve written off even before its inception has to be that joke at Rome
Very true. Commonwealth games are more of a priority now.
Plus, JAYPEE group are going to build a mall, a cricket stadium, a football stadium and a lot of other things in this piece of land. All other things will get priority over the F1 track.
Not inspiring. Throw out rules and sack Tilke. I don’t blame him that much anymore but the rules are restricting and there’s only so much he can do at least a new designer would give a new feel and Tilke seems all out of steam.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again I want new tracks which look like the love child of Spa and Monza. I want insane and for a designer to truly explore the depths of his imagination with investment in the track not just facilities and big glowing hotels. A good track is no guarantee of a good race but it brings passion, excitement and enthusiasm and is for true fans not just a luxurious holiday.
Okay, steph: design for me a circuit that is as exciting as you would like for it to be.
I couldn’t I would be useless and that isn’t my job to do that. But tracks can be built like Suzuka etc which blue your mind we just need rid of the rules. I actually like some Tilke. Bahrain, Turkey is ok and I like Singapore but many are dull and never get a chance because of tge rules. We need new tracks but we need them to be of the highest quality possible otherwise it’s a waste if time and money
Interesting to race on it and interesting to see overtaking and battles are two different things. Just look at Portimao – it is really an inspiring and challenging track with its rollercoaster-like ups and downs and extreme gradient changes. Unfortunatly, it has only one place for overtaking which we saw in GP2 season finals this year…
It wasn’t made by Tilke.
Personally, I don’t think it’s so much a circuit of two halves as it is a circuit of two thirds. There’s somthing missing: you’ve got the typical Tilke-ality down on the bottom section, but some nice-lookin variation across the top. An artificial hill like the ones in Abu Dhbi would go well there, but there’s something missing. Maybe because it looks like Tilke has sewn two parts that he had lying around together.
I’m curious as to what the segmented red sections are. If I’m right and they’re grandstands, the top half of the circuit could be one of the best viewing experiences in Formula One.
I also think the pits are on the northern side, were that long, unbroken bright red bar is. But you know what I’d realy like to see some day? A clockwise circuit where the first corner is a left-hander. I orked it out the othe day: only anti-clockwise circuits have left-handers as the first turn. The only exception is, bizzarely, Magny-Cours.
Montreal, goes left then right.
zolder too
Are you sure it’s a Tilketrack?
I agree it looks like one, particularly with a hairpin onto the back straight, followed by a hairpin off. And of course, there’s a hairpin onto the start/finish straight to make sure there’s no overtaking there either!
@ MP4-19B. I wouldn’t trust the satellite imagery, it can be up to 5 years out of date.
Latest imagery (may)
So it’s still a freen field site then?
Looks like yet another boring track by Herman the German. Why can’t he design a track with a loop the loop, or a jump over a canyon, or a rotating swing bridge or something like that?
In rfactor maybe
ROFL.
some of us were discussing how to make Valencia more interesting,
We decided to replace the bridge with a loop-the-loop like “hot wheels” toy car racetracks used to have.
After all, we are always being told that, with all the down force, F1 cars could be driven across the ceiling. Let’s see them prove it.
Wahay ! The FIA track design rules won’t even allow us to have a proper corkscrew like Laguna Seca so I think poor old FIA would have kittens with a loop !!!
But still good lol !
To me it seems promising. The upper half looks interesting. Of course gradients could make it even more interesting.
Some of us were discusing how to improve Valencia.
We came to the conclusion that a loop-the-loop like “Hot Wheels” toy cars used to have should be used instead of the bridge. After all, we keep being told that, with all the aero down force, F1 cars could drive across the ceiling. Lets see them prove it.
Tilke does nothing on his own volition! The FIA, FOM and FOTA all have a say, not to talk of the local authorities. To bring all these interests to a track is not an easy task. So I do give Tilke some credits.
The track itself looks good from the bird perspective (at least it will suit the MP4s
), but as noted by Keith, we do not know the elevations on the track, so we cannot say if the straight line is really flat. It does not change as compared to other tracks since they all have only one overtaking opportunity in them 
It’s looks awful, boring and unimaginative.
I’d add something on Tilke issue: there are some videos in Youtube showing him at Nurburgring, Nordshleife. He looks enthusiastic about Brunchen and some other wonderful bends and pieces of the track. You’d expect him to replicate some of those wonderful drawings in his tracks lay outs, and it doesn’t happen. It tells us that it’s not only Tilke stuff.
If I was asked to design a track, I’d take some ideas from old tracks lay out, start replicating something (each of us can list a lot of wonderful track pieces we’re excited about) and then connect them at my best. Just to start…then you can let your mind fly free and being as innovative as you want.
It make me think that Mr. Tilke is not that free!
I saw that clip, he surely is a petrolhead with passion for racing.
However – simply mixing up the famous corners on a track doesn’t work – Magny Course did that and we all know what thrilling racing that approach produced.
magny cours is a great track though… drivers love it.
The thing that spins me out – not necessarily regarding this track, which looks ho-hum imho – is a few years ago F1 Racing mag did a piece on the ultimate track. They asked several current and ex drivers and the track would have been huge, a figure eight and it was at the time estimated to cost 500 million. Abu Daubi spent more than that on some boring monstrosity and India will probably do the same.
The thing was that F1 Racing got Tilke to put all the corners together into something cohesive. Now I ask the question – why can’t that happen again?
If it can’t, then how about this – make a track with a whopping great straight (which is the case in China, Catalunya, Bahrain, Abu Daubi etc) but then the infield is nice sweeping, constant radius corners instead of right angled point and squirt rubbish. The thing then would be to try as hard as possible for cars to compromise set ups – either go low downforce for the straight or high downforce for the infield.
probably too simple an idea…
Agree. High speed corners, some aggressive gradients, a couple medium straights and a long loop would make an OMFG amazing track imo….!!! Imagine watching drivers trying to overtake on the long loop while they’re going at around 270 to 280kmph!
So when this track is finished how many tracks on the F1 calendar will either be completely designed from scratch by Tilke or have had at least a redesign done by Tilke?
I realise he is probably the preferred designer for the FIA and FOM so new countries may have to use him but, does he not have any competition for designing tracks.
Also I know Tilke is constrained by the rules when designing tracks, so I would like to know what he would change about the rules to give himself more freedom, has anyone ever asked him this in an interview.
List of tracks allegedly “molested” by Mr Tilke.
Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia
Bahrain International Circuit, Bahrain
Shanghai International Circuit, China
Istanbul Racing Circuit, Turkey
Cancun, Mexico *Undeveloped
Beijing International Street circuit, China
Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore
Bucharest Ring, Romania
Valencia Street Circuit, Spain
Jakarta Street Circuit, Indonesia
Yas Island Circuit, Abu Dhabi-United Arab Emirates
Cape Town Grand Prix, South Africa
Dublin Street Circuit, Ireland[citation needed]
Korean International Circuit, South Korea (under construction)
Moscow Raceway, Russia (Planned MotoGP Venue)
Kazakhstan Motor City, Republic of Kazakhstan
Jaypee Group Circuit, Greater Noida, India (under construction)
International Circuit Simón Bolívar, Venezuela
Add to it
Nurburgring(Ist sector micky mouse)
(raped it)
Osterreichring(converted to A1-ring)
Spa(bus stop)
Hockenheimring
Circuit de catalunya(last corner)
Hungaroring
Magny-Cours(Last Chicane)
Add any if missed.
You can vent out your anger towards Tilke tracks HERE
Could Borat be the brand ambassador that track?
Wow! Their OFFICIAL WEBSITE is pretty informative. And TRACK itself is very interesting. Has at least seven variations & resembles an inverted gun.
I love how they’ve used google translate for the English version of the website:
Add to that”
That is a very important point they mention!!
arrogant??
Epic Translation Fail!!
These were all very pointless changes, and provided no real difference to the racing.
Hockenheim is now just a boring sea of grey dreary tarmac and A-1 Ring is a pile of crap aswell.
I can name a few more tracks but I’ll have to check if it was Tilke who changed them.
International Circuit Simón Bolívar, Venezuela??? really???!
I’m venezuelan, and i didn’t know that this track even exist
And why would they want to name it after a Colombian?
Simon Bolivar is Venezuelan
Don’t hold your breath !
last time: singapore is not tilke´s work.
it looks more like the bahrain circuit
I guess Tilke has run out of ideas.
This track is exactly like the others. And it seriously lacks high speed corners.
why can we see any banked corners anymore??? i’m not talking about massive Indianapolis ones either.
I wish they’d take the 2005 Cape Town draft out of the drawer again, I love that one, it has a couple of those fast, sweeping corners we are missing on most of the new tracks: http://www.flickr.com/photos/coda/38978455/sizes/l/
That looks just like Bahrain …
Well, if it’s the 5th shortest track on the calendar, that’s right in the middle of the pack, isn’t it? and just under 5 km, that’s quite OK.
This looks like Tilkedrome number 14 : they all look the same !!!
A better track design would be to do it shaped like the dotted – line perimeter of this one.
The big loop at the top really reminds me of China’s turn 13. Its like an attempt to recreate Spoon at Suzuka, or Pouhon at Spa.
It will be an interesting track