Track limits a talking point on first day back in Austria

43 comments on “Track limits a talking point on first day back in Austria”

1. 

   Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
   20th June 2014, 19:09

   The track was recently added to Gran Turismo and I noticed the same issues, especially that pit lane. The corner itself is blind so you can’t really see if anybody is halfway into the pits until you’re right there.

   I wonder where Ferrari have come from all of a sudden? Didn’t Kimi say they have new updates?
   1. 

      Kingshark (@kingshark)
      20th June 2014, 19:38

      @craig-o
      Ferrari always look good on Friday, it’s all going downhill from here.
      1. 

         Damonw
         20th June 2014, 23:00

         Maybe because they run light???
      2. 

         Paul (@frankjaeger)
         21st June 2014, 0:13

         @kingshark How come they always look good on friday?

         Something i’ve never understood is what schedule the teams have during practice sessions. What is the general consensus in practice? Long stints on fridays? Sector troubleshooting on saturday? Quick runs?

         @keithcollantine I understand your schedule may be relentless but if you’re struggling to think of an article to publish it could be this ^

         Cheers
   2. 

      Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
      21st June 2014, 1:52

      I think Ferrari are trying again the updates they ran in Canada practice, but had to abandon because it was too hot there (else they might have retired like Hamilton, or lost pace like Bottas to make the finish).
      1. 

         Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
         21st June 2014, 1:55

         They might A/B test it again, if so, look out for Raikkonen ahead of Alonso in Saturday morning practice.
   3. 

      Patrick (@paeschli)
      21st June 2014, 6:57

      The pit entry might be awful, but at least the pit exit is great and could give us two cars side-by-side coming into turn 2 :)
      1. 

         HS (@hsvdt15)
         21st June 2014, 7:19

         Hopefully so, a mate and myself did an Audi R18 race there on GT6 and that occurred!
2. 

   Malik (@)
   20th June 2014, 19:50

   I am sorry for commenting about unrelated thing but I want to say that the Canadian GP was the best because the backmarkers (Marussias and Caterhams) were eliminated early in the race so imagine how the racing would be without these GP3 cars competing in F1
   1. 

      Michael C
      20th June 2014, 19:55

      Ooof.. that’s harsh mate, they’re only GP2. (Factually, the GP2 pole time was 1:15, whilst I think everyone bar Ericsson was in the 1:12’s or below)
      1. 

         Malik (@)
         20th June 2014, 20:53

         @ Michael C: It’s just an observation which might be wrong but still I think F1 should have the highest standards
         1. 

            Michael C
            20th June 2014, 21:12

            You’re right.
         2. 

            pastaman (@)
            20th June 2014, 21:57

            It does
         3. 

            Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
            21st June 2014, 1:48

            Bernie’s response to this would be: “400 staff redundant, 2 teams less – 9 teams, 18 cars… sounds ripe for 3 car teams. 27 on the grid like in GP3. The top 5 teams will definitely vote that through. Finally, $50m more for CVC and I; Let’s do it.”
            1. 

               Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
               21st June 2014, 1:50

               While our response would be, with $50m more prize money, we could have 2 more teams, 26 cars on the grid and 400 extra jobs in F1. Throw in another $50m to the back of the grid, and they would all be latching onto Sauber at the tail of the midfield. CVC and Bernie would only lose less than a fifth of their annual profits.
   2. 

      trotter
      21st June 2014, 6:20

      @malik
      “the Canadian GP was the best because the backmarkers (Marussias and Caterhams) were eliminated early in the race”

      Could you please elaborate on this? I don’t understand how do you connect these two things. :/
3. 

   Michael C
   20th June 2014, 19:52

   I also drove this track on Gran Turismo (very good rendition, I like it!), and the pit-lane is just dangerous. Not just in qually – imagine closely following another car in the race when they have to slow down on the apex of the corner to make the pit entry.
   As for practice: Hamilton, Rosberg, Hamilton, Vergne, Vettel spins, Ricciardo almost, Hamilton Hamilton Hamilton
   1. 

      Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
      21st June 2014, 1:51

      At the end of GP2 qualifying, this exact scenario cost Marciello the chance of a front row grid slot.
4. 

   timi (@timi)
   20th June 2014, 20:49

   Is there any news on the time-penalty a pitstop will incur? It seems like an awfully long entry and exit for such a short track.. If pole is where I think it will be (high 1:07s), and the pit looks as though it’s around 25ish seconds, then that has to be the lowest pit-to-lap time ratio all year, no? I’d imagine most teams will attempt a one stop if at all possible
   1. 

      montreal95 (@montreal95)
      20th June 2014, 22:29

      @timi Pole will be a mid 1:08 IMO. Nevertheless you’re right, the ratio is crazy. But Pirelli say they don’t think it’s possible to do a 1-stop. Too high rear degradation for that
   2. 

      Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
      21st June 2014, 1:52

      I saw 22 seconds quoted on another site.
      1. 

         timi (@timi)
         21st June 2014, 12:01

         You’re right @fastiesty it’s 22 seconds in the pit lane.. but because the pit entry starts so early and includes that weird corner, the time penalty starts earlier due to drivers having to take that new tighter, and slower line before entering the pits. On other tracks it’s generally just a slight change of direction, but here it’s larger than normal.

         Interesting @montreal95 I hope some teams are verging on three stops then, – I’d love to see more split tyre strategies a la Bahrain and Barcelona
         1. 

            Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
            21st June 2014, 12:31

            @timi Makes sense…. I imagine it’ll be 1 stop Force India to almost 3 stopping Williams, although 2/3 stop makes me think of pre-2013 tyre change Pirellis.
         2. 

            montreal95 (@montreal95)
            21st June 2014, 17:00

            @timi I’d like that too but won’t be holding my breath for 3-stoppers. There are a couple of guys closer to the back who have nothing to lose that might try a 1-stop(Perez, Button). In fact Button hinted as much in post-qualy interview. Everyone else will be on 2-stop i believe
            1. 

               timi (@timi)
               22nd June 2014, 11:29

               I agree @fastiesty, @montreal95. Bar Button and the FI’s, it’s looking like another bog-standard 2 stop race.. oh joy.
5. 

   InSilico_ (@insilico)
   20th June 2014, 21:13

   Great fix for the problem of extending track limits. Have gravel traps. The first and the final two corners are probably three of the most difficult around this circuit, yet there is an abundance of run-off. There is a great buzz for the people watching and especially the drivers, knowing that if you mess up the corner there’ll be little or no forgiveness, your car could be beached or worse and your session could easily be over. The run-off is there for safety reasons I presume, but it’s being way over the top. Please God let us have more element of risk for the drivers. Some of the mistakes and error’s that drivers can make on most circuits is excessively and needlessly forgiving.
6. 

   andae23 (@andae23)
   20th June 2014, 21:21

   “It’s an old-school track with some high speed sections and no room for mistakes.”

   Are you listening, Mr. Tilke? This is what drivers want.
   1. 

      montreal95 (@montreal95)
      20th June 2014, 22:25

      @andae23 Indeed. Funnily though this was Tilke’s first F1 track. The second one was Sepang which is also great. However it all went downhill from there, starting with the new Hockenheim
      1. 

         Ivan B (@njoydesign)
         21st June 2014, 11:39

         @montreal95
         Istanbul is his creation too, isn’t it? I always enjoyed it. Although I heard it was originally planned to be run clockwise before they had a go in reverse and found it to be better that way.
         1. 

            montreal95 (@montreal95)
            21st June 2014, 17:02

            @njoydesign I like Istanbul Park too. And Austin. I was generalizing :)
   2. 

      PeterG
      20th June 2014, 23:04

      Tilke does make circuits with fast sections, In fact most of his tracks feature fast/sweeping corners.

      The run-off is mandated by the FIA circuit regulations so in that regard he’s just building the track within the parameters he’s given when it comes to runoff.

      Also consider that runoff areas are not just changed for F1, Other categories also have a say. The Motorbike riders for instance prefer having tarmac runoff so there are a lot of circuits where bikes race regularly that have gone to tarmac runoff for them.
      The tarmac runoff at Montreal was added largely for the Nascar series, They also requested tarmac runoff be added at Road America, Mosport & Watkins Glen as those cars get stuck in gravel extremely easily & are difficult to recover (They also get torn apart by it easily underneath).
   3. 

      Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
      21st June 2014, 0:43

      @andae23 You are aware that this was the first Tilke track, right?
      1. 

         andae23 (@andae23)
         21st June 2014, 7:40

         @mike-dee I am ;)
   4. 

      Patrick (@paeschli)
      21st June 2014, 7:05

      The problem with Tilke tracks is not that they are bad, it’s that they are all the same.

      @kaiie resumed it the best: “5.5 km/20 corners/have two 1 km straights”
   5. 

      Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
      21st June 2014, 12:17

      Sepang is also a very good track I think, and is also Tilke.

      It’s the rules that have conspired against him.
7. 

   evered7 (@evered7)
   20th June 2014, 21:54

   Ferrari seem to have genuine pace here. Not only the fastest time behind the Mercs, their long run pace also looks good.

   Hope they run the updates and clinch a podium during the weekend.
8. 

   PeterG
   20th June 2014, 22:54

   The pit entry is the same as it was when F1 raced here before & it didn’t cause any problems & back then drivers didn’t complain about it.

   As to track limits, I don’t really see a problem as the little kurb at T1 stops them running off there & putting 4 wheels off at turn 8 means your offline for turn 9 so its not really a time gain overall.

   Also remember that they regularly used to run 4 wheels off the track when there was grass/gravel on the exit of these corners. The only difference now is that back then they used to drag gravel all over the track which caused problems for the cars behind, Thats why they 1st put the grass-crete down for 2001/2002 & then went to full tarmac for 2003.
   1. 

      foleyger (@foleyger)
      20th June 2014, 23:51

      pit entry is slightly different in my opinion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIZ-T8y9_9c Look at 1:07 and you can see the entry is a lot later than what it is today.
9. 

   jonathan102 (@jonathan102)
   20th June 2014, 22:55

   I don’t know who approved that pit entry because it’s just plain dangerous.
   1. 

      Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
      21st June 2014, 1:54

      Definitely the FIA then!
10. 

    ibdbeast (@ibdbeast)
    21st June 2014, 3:59

    this should be another course for Rossberg to exploit…
11. 

    trotter
    21st June 2014, 6:22

    Mercedes’ long run pace was so horribly hectic and short that I can’t get much info out of it. Ferrari seems quite consistent on the long runs. Red Bull is roughly the same too.
12. 

    Minardi (@gitanes)
    21st June 2014, 7:15

    As much as I will look forward to the return of such a scenic track from some good races a decade ago, its certainly a sign of the times that we’re talking about “track limits” at such a venue. A glance at some on-board shots from the original Osterreich circuit and you realize we’re watching a different sport altogether from back then.

    Don’t get me wrong, there’s a huge thrill in F1 today at the right place and time, but man…..Osterreichring in its full countryside glory with the sounds of the beautiful deep throatty V12’s of the late 70’s doesn’t really compare to much anything else. This may well have been the more glorious circuit of all time – and at a time when man and machine really were at their limits.

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