Improved Safety – Old Layouts
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The the proof of Mark Webbers crash it is evident to see that the safety of F1 has never been higher. So with the cars as indistructable as they are I want to ask the question is it time to bring back classic circuit layouts. The one that comes to mind for me is the Circuit de Catalunuaand the removal of the chicane.
What other changes do you want to see to bring back classic track layouts.
In some respect the old Hockenheim Ring, but the new one is better for the racing.
Catalunya is a good example, they shouldn’t have done it in the first place!
Well it’s safe to say the old Hockenheim ain’t coming back any time soon. This is what it looks like now:
http://www.schuerkamp.de/zope/hoover/racing/2006_jim_clark_revival/images/130_jclark_memorial.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2122/2404543914_49829d7ab4.jpg
And I see what you mean about F1 being safer, but I think it’d be silly to think that just because there haven’t been many F1 injuries lately we can do away with run off, remove chicanes etc. But, hypothetically, I’d love to have seen another race at Silverstone on the Abbey- Bridge- Priory section, but with Abbey as a kink rather than a chicane
the old hockenheim simply needs the grass to be cut, fresh tarmac laid down, tall catch fencing and possibly the tree line moved back a few meters. nothing radical at all really. should be done.
haybails at monaco anyone?
I hate Bernie for forceing this to be done.
It wasn’t Bernie. It was the FIA. And it needed to be done – motorsport is dangerous. You simpy cannot compromise driver safety for anything.
They can bring some circuit back what we shouldn’t be short sighting safety, yes F1 cars are lot safer then they were some 15 years back but I don’t think FIA or FOM will allow classic circuits to come back on the calender.
I am always amazed when I see those pictures of Hockenheim – the old layout was abandoned in what, 2001?
I personally would love to see Spa in it’s original guise!
i don’t like the old hockenheim..it’s too boring for me to watch it and the old catalunya is good..i also want to see the a1 ring back in the f1 calendar.
“You simply cannot compromise driver safety for anything”
Agreed… and people also seem to forget that the safety of the stewards and spectators is also a major issue. Anyone who watched that BBC documentary on the Le Mans disaster a few weeks ago will realise that
I’m not saying that we go back to like it was in the 60’s and 70’s. I’m simply saying that chicanes and the like that have been installed to slow cars down are no long all that important. Cars have so much downforce now that they stick to the track far more effectivly and therefore what was considered as a high speed corner is now not that dangerous.
Watched the Watkins Glen Indycar race last night – a modern incarnation of a classic track – and was shocked how narrow the track seemed, and how close the steel barriers were to it, in areas where F1 fanatics would expect to see masses of tarmac run-off! No way F1 could go back there without a lot of gardening. And there were one or two rumours it would, before Austin was announced.
Couldn’t agree more about Barcelona – that last turn should be as fast as possible for me – and I’d also change the new chicane at Spa. Would love to see a nearly-flat-out left-hander heading towards La Source, or failing that a faster chicane where a driver can attack and make a difference (like the old Bus Stop).
“Cars have so much downforce now that they stick to the track far more effectivly and therefore what was considered as a high speed corner is now not that dangerous. “
I agree that the cars are safer but your sentence is true only if a driver gets it right.
I’m going to use Suzuka as an example. The chicane is great at slowing the car down and it needs it because the speed of that lap is incredible. Imagine if that chicane wasn’t there. Imagine say at the end of a race when the tyres are a bit worn, the fuel is quite light and the drivers have been going round at very high speed lap after lap and say they get turn 2 wrong and smash into the barrier (Suzuka is one of the view places that punishes drivers afterall). It would be a nightmare. Maybe some circuits could be jiggled about with like the busstop chicance could be made a bit nicer but all in all I’m happy with the safety standards and I don’t think we should step back 10 years.
I do think that perhaps with new circuits they shouldn’t just stick chicanes in (if the rules allow) and try to slow things down another way. If we want driver punishment maybe some closer barriers or (and I’m pinching Red Andy’s fine idea I saw a few weeks back on here) a really abrasive run off that wrecks their tyres.
Safety has to be first and foremost though I believe. I know it’s a driver’s choice to get in the car and danger always will be there in some form but I a death or severe injury would be horrendous. It’s not just the drivers but the spectators and the very brave marshals who are at risk too.
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