Neel Jani drives the first laps of India’s F1 track

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Neel Jani became the first driver to lap the Buddh International Circuit in an F1 car when Red Bull brought their show car to the track last week.

Here’s footage of Jani in action:

Mercedes published some data based on their simulation of the track:

Initial simulation suggests that the cars will spend around 65% of the lap at full throttle, with the longest full throttle period of 14.5 seconds, between turns three and four.

The cars will exceed 285kph (177mph) at three points around the lap, while the fastest corner is expected to be turn 12, which is expected to be taken at 255kph. The maximum G-loading around the circuit is expected to be 4.0G, at turns five, nine and eleven. […]

The circuit has similarities to [Istanbul Park in] Turkey, with a long main straight and a very long, sweeping corner (turns ten and eleven) that resembles the triple-apex turn eight in Turkey. However, while turn eight was taken with an average corner speed of 270kph, in India the corners are expected to be taken at 170 kph (turn ten) and 210kph (turn eleven) respectively. The lap time and speed will be very much dependent on the grip level achieved by the Pirelli tyres on the new asphalt surface.

A lap time of 1:25.000 would correspond to an average lap speed of 218kph, while a lap time of 1:30.000 would equate to an average lap speed of 205kph.

Neel Jani at Buddh International Circuit – pictures

2011 Indian Grand Prix

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    Image © Red Bull/Getty images. Video edited by Dan Selby

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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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    62 comments on “Neel Jani drives the first laps of India’s F1 track”

    1. I thought the grandstand was packed full then from the thumbnail image.

      Going in for a closer look, they’ve coloured the seats orange, white, and green.

      I guess the optical illusion of real people it creates will come in handy at the weekend.

      /cynic

      1. John Snakes F1
        25th October 2011, 14:17

        I counted, there are 46 people on that grand stand. This race is destined to fail.

        1. It was a part of the Media Demo and only the media was Invited. During the run not every1 was in main straight. Many were at the turns as well.
          I watched the podcast and there wer “FROM WHAT IT SEEMED TO ME” ATLEAST 100 MEDIAMEN. That aint bad is it?
          Next tym wen u get on to say something better check coz it may send the wrong impressions!

          1. @Jj2691 You’ve entirely missed the point of my post.

            I thought the grandstand was full when I looked at the thumbnail. When I looked at the photo at full resolution, I could see that it’s just an optical illusion created by the seats and the size of the photo. I then thought “yeah, it makes sense that the grandstand isn’t full, being a media demo and all.”

            But it did prove a point. At a low resolution on screen (which translates in real life to “at a distance”), the grandstand looks full at first glance.

            Which will be very useful to FOM and the Grand Prix organisers this weekend when their long-distance camera shots show pictures of grandstands that manage to appear full, even when they’re not.

            Oh, and next time you get on to say something, learn to spell.

            1. Never been to India have you ajokay? Delhi population is over 20 million and you think the stands will be empty? LOL, just wait and watch.

              Btw the stands are painted green, white and orange because they are the national colours. You are so clueless.

            2. Nope, I have never been to India. Although I am aware that India is the second most populated country in the world, and the population of Delhi is vast to say the least.

              But just because the city has 20 million inhabitants doesn’t mean that they’re all going to turn up at the gates to the race track this weekend. But it still remains to be seen. Hopefully they do fill the grandstands to the rafters for many years to come! But Shanghai has a population of 23 million and that didn’t help fill the grandstands at the Chinese Grand Prix, did it?

              And thank you, but I am aware what the colours of the Indian national flag are. It also has a blue wagon wheel in the centre.

            3. I don’t really mind this, I can see why they did it as it does look better if the stands look full. However it almost feels like resignation on the organizers part, like they have no intention of gathering capacity crowds.

              Still, least it’s real. I really hope that “Generate people with computer images” thing never becomes a reality. Then I will be upset.

            4. @ajokay lol at the wagon wheel! but yeah although india has a massive population, it’s a pretty poor population, most of whom can’t afford the cheapest ticket. so as you say, the illusion will come in handy!

              I bet it’s a new FIA reg too for new tracks!

            5. Here is today’s free lesson.

              The “Wagon Wheel” is actually a Spinning Wheel commemerating Ghandi Ghi’s campaign of non-violent resistance of the British occupyers. At the time, the British controlled the cotton industry, and required the locals to work as indentured farmers. The raw cotton was then shipped to England to make textiles, and returned to India to be sold at massive profits.

              To break their hold Ghandi Ghi encouraged Indians to reclaim their heritage of spinning and weaving tp oust the occupyers via non-violent means.

              In case your wondering, no I am not Indian, but I did pay attention in school.

        2. This race is destined to fail :roll:

          1. acc. to the organizers, 90% of the tickets sold!!
            this race will be a success for sure..the buzz around the event is looking good..pubs and bars are booked too:)

        3. I counted, there are 46 people on that grand stand

          For a media event. A media event that was closed to the public. Based on ticket sales for the actual race, the grandstands will be at or near capacity.

        4. 46 people in 1 bit of grandstand for just 1 car (and an old one).

          So basic mathematics 46 people times 24 cars= 1104 in 1 bit of grandstand.

          that’s not too bad…

      2. @ajokay Yea, you’re not the only cynic there mate!

        I like the flame effect at Istanbul Park, reminds me of old Super Mario Land graphics on the Gameboy!

      3. That’s a trick that a bunch of NASCAR tracks (mostly those owned by SMI) here in the states use too with the different colored seats randomly placed to make it look full.

      4. A cynic maybe, but it might be a good strategy for them, in case of emergency!

    2. John Snakes F1
      25th October 2011, 14:15

      What’s Neel Jani doing at Barcelona holding an Indian flag?

      1. That’s the Buddh circuit in India, not in Barcelona

        1. John Snakes F1
          25th October 2011, 14:21

          How do you expect me to tell the difference? This is what tilkedromes do to F1. Delude its fans. Maybe if i’d have seen a cow nearby in the photo i’d have known its India.

          1. Barcelona has nothing to do with Tilke except the final corner as far as I know, and also looks very different, much more natural (even if the circuit itself is dull for racing).

            1. I do think it appears very similar-looking to Turkey though.

          2. How do you expect me to tell the difference?

            By reading the title of the article: “Neel Jani drives the first laps of India’s F1 track”. And also by using common sense – why on earth would Neel Jani be driving the Red Bull show car in Barcelona in the week of the Indian Grand Prix?

            1. @matt90 I thought the same, the first 3 corners are symmetrical to Turkey’s and are practically the same in terms of elevation

          3. How do you expect me to tell the difference?

            By reading the post ;)

          4. How do you expect me to tell the difference? This is what tilkedromes do to F1.

            And this is despite the fact that Hermann Tilke was only responsible for one corner.

      2. whining for everything lol

      3. And also, the title says Indian Track, not Spanish Track

      1. oops, I meant to add the link differently see it here

        1. That’s nice! When looking at that vid, I just had a thought about lap times (and the earlier article Keith did on the numbers of this track).

          Is it possible, that Red Bull is factoring in where they will be able to use the DRS wing in Qualifying, making their laptime a lot less than otherwise expected?

    3. Which Red Bull is this meant to be originally? It certainly looks like it’s been butchered, although with the more up to date wings, nose and livery it doesn’t look too old. Is it actually pre-09? My guess is RB4.

      1. I’d like to know more about that as well, as it does look like a butchered car… nice to hear the V10 though, even though I think it’s been heavily rev-limited to prevent the engine from giving up.

      2. @matt90 – it’s their show car. It’s kind of a mish-mash of different cars and unique parts.

        1. I assume their must be an ex-race chassis under there somewhere though. As it sounds like a V10 I guess it can’t be an RB4, even if that’s what the shape of the sidepods suggests- I suppose that’s just what the RB4 donated to whatever the original car is.

          1. I think it might be the 2006 Torro Rosso, they’re the only team that still used the V10 in 2006 and RBR and STR were sharing a lot of their resources at the time…

            1. Very good idea. I thought it didn’t look old enough to be pre-V8, but if it’s the Toro Rosso…

              Looking for photos coincidently took me back here…
              https://www.racefans.net/2009/07/03/f1-cars-post-1980-goodwood-festival-of-speed-2009-pictures/redbull_str1_2006_coulthard-13/
              …where the donor car was more recognisable. I assume it is the same show car with less alterations.

            2. The base car, whatever it was (RBR 2/3/4), looks a bit bizarre without all the aero fiddly-bits that it once had and without the more refined sculpting of RBR6+ And the older/more out of date it gets, the weirder it looks!

    4. Has anyone worked out what the fastest lap is in a tuktuk?

    5. The grandstands look beautiful, I personally like colours of the Indian flag.

    6. I think it’d be great if they didn’t allow DRS for this race. For each track on the calendar(bar Korea) we already have a benchmark of what overtaking was like before DRS was introduced which don’t have for Buddh. What if the track is naturally a great track for overtaking and is capable of producing an exciting race without DRS?

      1. @cacarella I disagree. There is no formula to how much you can overtake on any track. The variables are just too vast. Plus, if you started messing with DRS rules you would undoubtedly annoy many teams. These cars have been designed with DRS. You might as well stick them on the Bridgestone’s from last year or give them all the same chassis. There will always be that disparity between cars strengths and weaknesses.

        1. @andrewtanner I agree, it wouldn’t be plausible, I guess what I should have said was that I would have liked to see a few races here without DRS. Kind off a moot point really since it’s a new circuit and it’s not possible. Maybe deep inside I’m harboring some ill feelings towards new circuits? or maybe the DRS? either one would be a surprise to me!

    7. I wish they showed a full onboard of the entire track,Nonethless the track seems to have a couple of High Speed/Medium Speed sections that features several changes of Direction & Sections similar to Korea where Engines would come into its own,Hopefully we see a lot of overtaking opportunities which reminds me,I wonder where the FIA are going to put the DRS Zones & Detection points

    8. Looks like the GoPro cam on the rear wing couldn’t handle the speed. :)

    9. The facilities around the circuit, like the grand stand and the pit building, look better than I thought they were going to be. Unfortunately the rest still looks like a gravel pit (or like the Korean track, if you would).

    10. The lay out doesn’t seem boring.
      Moreover, there are some interesting bends, with hard to find apex and interesting variation of altitude. It’s a pity there is also the typical “nonsense curves” as many Tilkodroms, but, what can we do about that?

      I think what Tilkodromes miss, comparing to other tracks, is the … naturality. They give the exact idea they are designed at the PC, putting there curves of various radius or speed. They haven’t anything natural. Classical tracks follows a sort of natural idea, since many of them are from road origins, so there are no rough bends where there isn’t a reason for them to be there, and bends are gradual like they have always been. Nothing similar on Tilkodromes, where the drawing have to look similar to a chinese ideogram (say), and not following natural constraints.

    11. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      25th October 2011, 20:41

      I swear I haven’t read any of the comments above, but I wouldn’t be surprised of finding some guys claiming “so now Red Bull will have a significant advantage over the others for running before the others”… Now I’m going to read the comments to see if my prediction was right

      1. Looks like you should have had more faith in everyone.

        Now if it had been a Ferrari on a filming day…

      2. On the contrary
        26th October 2011, 2:58

        We are too busy jeering the Indians, Indian F1 and Indian F1 circuit to think about things of minor importance such as what if RedBull racing did use some developmental parts on Neel’s car..

      3. @OmarR-Pepper Actually, This shows why Red bull are currently uncatchable: Attention To Detail. All the other teams with simulators will have run for days on this track using the data they’ve got from Tilke, GPS, track organisers etc. So what advantage will Red Bull get from this quick demo run using a non-spec car on a dusty track? Not a lot, you might think.

        However, I bet they have that show car fully modelled in the simulator. I also bet they designed a programme for the car to run in the simulator before they went out there. Now they have the actual data from that real-life run. So they, unlike every other team on the grid, will be able to see if their simulator predictions have been accurate. They can then fine tune the numbers, and re-run the simulations for their race cars, secure in the knowledge that the results they’re being given are as close to reality as you can get.

        Attention To Detail.

        1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
          26th October 2011, 20:38

          @hairs, I wouldn’t have thought all that, believe me, if they really have managed to prepare it all in that way, that can explain even some crazy stuff such as running a rodeo in the future Texas track, probably just for the elevation data.. I don’t know. Good poiint Hairs!!!

    12. There just doesn’t seem to be enough penalty for mistakes… too much run off. I guess we’ll see on Sunday.

      1. Sadly its the norm these days. In a time where drivers these days are really really good from 1st to 24th surely we need to start punishing small errors now and there must be a way of safely punishing spins and excursions
        I like even a ribbon of grass before a tarmac runoff which at least forces them to run wider, kinda like what the painted advert logos do in the wet (see hungarian race)

      2. Yep. Even Turkey had some grass and gravel. This recent trend of all tarmac runoff is annoying.

    13. Thought I would mention the old perinenal of why is everything in Kph when speed in the UK is measured in Mph, and unless ive missed something like it is the rest off ( the sensible ) World apart from Europe.

      1. I hate to wake you up on this err Bob, but apart from the USA still keeping to its Miles and the UK not having fully taken to metric system yet, the rest of the world has long been using the metric system.

        So get out of your small corner, open your windows and eyes and behold!

      2. great name btw

    14. Amod D Kulkarni
      26th October 2011, 8:30

      Why is it that ppl want Indian GP to be a failed event ?

    15. Oh God, that V10 sounds amazing.

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