Vettel expects Indian circuit to be second-fastest F1 track

2011 Indian Grand Prix

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Buddh International Circuit

Sebastian Vettel expects the new Buddh International Circuit to be the second-fastest track on the F1 calendar after Monza.

The Red Bull driver said: “We’re expecting the track to have the second highest average speed of the season after Monza. That means that we’ll be completing a lap at an average speed of 235kph, so there should be plenty of good opportunities to overtake.”

F1 cars lap Monza at an average speed of around 250kph (155mph), making it by far the fastest circuit on the calendar.

Vettel said the circuit also has a lot of elevation change: “The altitude difference is extreme, rather like in Spa or Turkey, which will give the driving an additional element.”

He added: “I’m really looking forward to India; I always do when we drive on a new track.”

Team mate Mark Webber said: “We have completed some good simulator work, but in terms of the kerbs and other subtle final details, these will obviously come into place right at the end, so I’d say we have an 85% understanding of what the track is going to be like.”

Webber describes a lap of the track in this video from Red Bull

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    47 comments on “Vettel expects Indian circuit to be second-fastest F1 track”

    1. It seems to be a good circuit, with some interesting fast parts which should be suitable for Mclaren and Mercedes. Moreover,to overtake should be easier, especially with the using of DRS(even if I dont like it).

      It would be great to see Michael and Lewis reaching the podium hehe :)

      1. MSC 1st win here…… at least i hope so

        1. Lol dreaming

          1. Long shot.

        2. It’s funny the way you say “MSC 1st win”, I seem to forget that he’s already got 91 of them! lol

      2. On the contrary
        21st October 2011, 18:00

        Maybe if McLaren lets Sam Michael go on podium to collect the constructors trophy

    2. Why do Red Bull make both their drivers do a voice-over when they’re both reading from the same script? I was looking forward to hearing Mark’s views on this circuit after watching the Vettel version that Keith linked us to earlier.

      1. some people will like listening to Seb, others to Mark…

      2. because some might want to hear the vid in Australian :P

        1. I should said I don´t understand “Australian” at all… sadly…

      3. They also have a French Buemi voice over

        1. And a Spanish Alguersuari voiceover.

          1. Vettel does German as well, obviously.

    3. It’s a cool video and I enjoyed watching it! But I didn’t get much of the circuit from it!

      I’ve played it on F1 2011 – and I enjoyed it – the long straight is good for slipstreaming on!

      1. Unfortunately, this preoccupation with “coolness” detracts a lot from all Red Bull videos (along with unrealistic car behavior).

        These videos are more like those tiresome movie previews where you cannot follow anything because all they want to convey is how fast and furious the action is.

      2. Yes it’s a shame. “Boring” in car footage of the track would have been better to actually understand the layout.

        1. I agree, last year track presentations from RedBull were much more informative. However from the few bits where they actually showed the circuit it seem to be an interesting one. I’m praying for a dry race.

          1. it will be dry.

    4. Didn’t expect it to be so quick. Let’s see. I’m very curious, and it looks promising. Too many elbow bends, in my opinion, but overtaking seems to be achievable. In my opinion the classic track where DRS is unuseful, and we would see overtaking even without it.

    5. Looks really impressive, looks, er, finished, unlike Korea !

    6. I really like what I have seen. The CAD version of the track looks superb and I thnik the uphill approaches to some corners and the downhill exits will make the view of the race interesting. One concern is how good this REBULL video production actually looks. I recently saw the video of the proposed Korean layout and what bothered me was how they depicted what was going to be the environment around the track there. Nothing like what it is at present. I know it is still a fluid plan. That makes me wonder what it does look like at the yet to be raced on India GP ? Can anyone tell me what they know??
      When I think of the great venues in the world I usually think of Spa at first as that track is in a magnificient surrounding with the forests and the topography. Monaco is also special but in a very different way. Singapore is unusual in that the location is better than the layout of the track, one that could use some tweaking for improvement. Tracks like Hockenheim, China and Turkey aren’t up to the standards of those I have mentioned and for me don’t create the excitement simply due to their locations. I also wonder about Austin where the layout looks very good but where it is at and how it will look is still up in the air to me. It is important for F1 to sell itself by having exposure in various nations and locations that challenge drivers and teams and also by the nature of the environment they will perform at. I think India is right on track today. I am eager for the race and hope that this adventure is a success for all.

        1. Thanks for the lead on the photos…amazed at how open the place is. The picture in my mind is certainly way different than what is actually there. Another CAD program that fooled me into thinking the race track was something it isn’t.

    7. I know its the drivers that have driven the track on the Simulators & got al the data there is but honestly i can never take a Driver’s(In the case Vettel) word for it until i’ve seen onboard footagl

    8. Its nice to hear that drivers like this new track. Hope we`ll see a good race, full of excitement.
      But what bothers me a bit is this: “We have completed some good simulator work,…” Today drivers can practise a new track in simulator and on the race weekend just switch to reality. I think that it would be much better to see, how will drivers cope with the track if they actually drive it for the first time on the race weekend. I remember the Malaysian GP in 1999 when the F1 came there for the first time. Schumacher (who drove for the first time since he broke his legs in Sliverstone that year) took the pole for nearly a second! I am sure he didnt practise that track in simulator :P

    9. I agree, it’s going to be fast – but I’m cautious to make assumptions about whether there will be lots of good opportunities to overtake.

      Most of the long straights are preceded by a tight, slow corner, like Turn 7 and Turn 8-9 in Abu Dhabi, so it would spread the drivers out. Populous, who developped the Arena layout in Silverstone showed what it takes to create good overtaking opportunities even for half the length of the Indian or Korean straights: medium speed corners like the modified Club, the second part of Village (which precedes the back straight), or Turn 2 in Korea. Plus you need a high downforce setup to avoid oversteer in the corners. (Korea failed with Turn 2, because the long straights compromised this setup requirements making it necessary to have low downforce setup with low drag on them. Short DRS zone complicated the matter.)

      In India there is neither a medium speed corner preceding the straight, nor there will be a tendency towards high downforce setups because of the long straights. So unless we get a hooked on DRS zone, I think there won’t be many overtaking possibility.

      I’m very excited about the track though. I’m looking forward to the elevation changes, the fast kinks of Turn 2, Turn 5-9, Turn 11-13, and of course the mighty-looking Turn 10.

      1. As for the overtaking spot analysis, I have to add the really slow hairpins, which are also good corners to follow or preceed a long straight – like Adelaide in Magny-Cours. But it has to be that little of a radius. Turn 7 of Abu Dhabi won’t make it.

    10. The video shows “unrealistic” tarck action, but I’ll wait until the race before juding the circuit.

      1. @Fixy Well at 1:47 I was thinking: ‘Oh no, not Turkey all over again!’, so that was fairly realistic.

        And then later on it was Webber who spun and not Vettel, so… at least that looked like a realistic representation of the team values…

        1. Well, @verstappen, it seems Red Bull now puts a bit of that “almost Turey” into all of their video’s, it was in all the ones they did do recentley.

    11. I think that the track is perfect for Mclaren and like every track for RedBull anyway I think Ferrari has a chance if temperatures are very high.

    12. Judging by f1 2011 India is very fast, I really like this new F1 tracks they are really unique. Korea was a nice surprise this year fully dry we saw a nice race, in my opinion erase Shanghai and Turkey from the map, they dont add anything new or revolucionary and add more tracks with unusual layouts like Korea and New Dheli even though this reminds me of kyalami.

    13. This will be McLaren territory for real. I’ve said it earlier this year but this video confirms it to me. I expect a McLaren 1-2 under dry conditions.

    14. Sebastian Vettel expects the new Buddh International Circuit to be the second-fastest track on the F1 calendar after Monza.

      I’m pretty sure the circuit was deliberately designed that way.

    15. Can anyone tell me how many years of contract does Bernie have with the Indian GP?

      1. Seven years is the standard contract for a first-time race, though Bernie will, on very rare occasions, start on a five-year contract. Given the potential for the Indian Grand Prix – of all the races in new countries, I think India has the most potential for long-term success – I’d say it’s ona seven-year contract.

        1. Out of curiosity, how do you base this? It seems as far removed from the nearest big city as, say, the Chinese and Turkish GP (the Sepang circuit is actually quite near KL), and the income per capita is way lower in India compared to China and Turkey. If the argument is that the local plutocrats will flock to the GP, well, China and Turkey have plenty of them too.

          Motorsport seems to be only marginally more developed in India (while Mallya’s decision not to field an Indian driver might be due to ego, it’s not as if many of us rate the drivers we’ve seen very highly) than it is in China or Turkey. The car industry is definitely bigger in China…

    16. Having done work in my own simulator, likely using the same track data as Red Bull is, the average speed is very high that surprised me when first driving it. It’s not ‘massively high speed’ like Silverstone, or in another way like Monza, but almost all the cars are medium speed, with a couple low speed and high speed corners.

      Generally, a real fun track to drive on, although I’m sure I’ll see many comments for years saying “another Tilkedrome, so boring, bring back ‘”.

      1. corners, rather.

    17. I dont think it will be the second quickest,the average lap speeds will be quick,but probably less than 220 kmph.

      1. you seem to know more about the track than the drivers :roll:

    18. I despise turn 3 here. I tried it on F1 2011. The wide exit just invites you to go on the power so early and once you get to the exit; your car is still pointing off the road.

      1. Turn 4 is a beast though!

    19. It really surprises me that it could be the second quickest!

      For me the track is a hell of a lot of fun on F1 2011. And it is just me or does it have a real European feel to the track? it feels like a fast Hungary in parts, with the ‘fast’, wide hairpins and elevation changes of the Nurburgring.

      Another reason it feels more traditional is because it seems to be more enclosed than the likes of Turkey, or Bahrain for example.

      1. @Electrolite Yea, well said. It does feel very ‘cosy’. Certainly not much like the other ones in Asia.

    20. This does indeed look like a bit of a nightmare set-up wise. Quite tight in places as well which is cool.

      Looking forward to seeing it in action and of course the pole lap.

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