Abu Dhabi GP urged to alter circuit

[Rob]

By Jonathan Noble Tuesday, November 16th 2010, 11:07 GMT

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has urged Abu Dhabi track chiefs to make changes to its 'flawed' track design following the lack of overtaking at last weekend's season finale.

The Yas Marina circuit was supposedly designed to try and encouraging exciting racing, but despite a long straight and heavy braking zones drivers struggled to find any opportunities to get past their rivals.

That lack of passing ultimately foiled Fernando Alonso's title challenge as he was unable to overtake Vitaly Petrov and begin a push up the order that he needed to win the world championship.

Whitmarsh believes that although the facilities in Abu Dhabi are among the best in the world, the layout needs some attention.

"This circuit is regrettably a great facility and everything else, but as we saw in GP2 and as we saw in F1 it is almost impossible to overtake here - and it is flawed in that way," he said.

"I personally would like to see it changed. If you look at GP2, it was not inspiring. I think it is a fantastic facility that we come to, but the end of the straight they need a wide challenging corner, not a chicane that has got one line through it - because it is impossible to overtake.

"You could see that when we first saw the plans. It did not look like this was going to be a circuit you could overtake on, and it has been proven. There is a massive commitment here to making this a great venue, so in the scheme of things priority should be given to looking at the circuit."

Whitmarsh's comments have been backed by Petrov himself - who successfully held off Alonso through the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

"Overtaking is not possible here," Petrov said when asked by AUTOSPORT. "The Ferrari was behind and he could not overtake here. But I don't know what they can change because they have already built the place.

"To help overtaking, I think you need a faster corner, maybe third or fourth gear and then you have an opportunity to overtake. If at Turn 7, the hairpin onto the back straight, if that corner was like Turn 1 then I am sure it would be better."

Yas Marina circuit boss Richard Cregan said over the Abu Dhabi weekend that the track was always looking at ways to make itself better.

"We extended the run off at Turn 8 this year as we felt there was space to do it, and we reconfigured the barriers in that area as they were not ideal," he said.

"We are always looking at various different elements that we can improve. If you stop doing that you should stop running the circuit. So we are looking at different circuits, the way others run races, and we will pick the best bits and improve the circuit."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88322

the track owners and designer should speak and consult with the drivers more.

[Grillo]

I like the idea but what about Hungaroring, Barcelona, Valencia, Singapore, Hockenheim...

[ferrari4life]

Moncaco.. all boring races.

[Alessandra]

Don't track designers consult anyone who has spent time driving a car round tracks for a living before coming up wth so many tracks that don't allow for F1 cars to do exactly what they're supposed to do - overtake?
Bernie Ecclestone has given the brief to the same designer time after time -and there's more to come - Texas & Russia, I believe, from the designer who gave us Valencia, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi etc etc. And then the drivers get blamed for making F1 'boring'!!

[Jack]

Hungaroring, Barcelona, Valencia, Singapore, Hockenheim, Monaco and Abu Dhabi. Excellent places to watch processions.

I think all the above should be either modified or removed.

[Red is Best]

Monaco will never be removed, depsite the fact that it is by far the most boring race of the season. Never understood the hype.

[KurtC]

unless we start paying to Bernie what he gets from Monaco and the other tracks... they will not be removed... is all about the money

[Grillo]

Monaco will never be removed, depsite the fact that it is by far the most boring race of the season. Never understood the hype.

Monaco used to be more exciting in the past when drivers used to crash into the barriers and mechanical failures were more frequent but today's drivers and cars are so perfect... In any case I think it's good to have Monaco, it's a different type of track, a different atmosphere... But one is enough.

They found a good (maybe) solution in Canada when the tyres were softer and less durable.

[996 GT1 Lover]

Unless they bring back ground effects (downforce generation which is much less dependent on airflow over the car), redesigning tracks and such will only do us so much good.