Istanbul Park resurfacing may have been unnecessary

2020 Turkish Grand Prix

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The late decision to resurface Istanbul Park before this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix, where drivers have complained about very poor grip levels, may not have been necessary.

Pirelli’s head of motor racing and Formula 1 Mario Isola believes the promoters decided to lay the new surface for cosmetic reasons.

“I believe that they wanted to be ready with a circuit, with a new image, and everything is in good condition,” he said.

Pirelli operates a factory near to the Istanbul circuit. Its previous surface was laid ahead of the last Turkish Grand Prix in 2011. Since then the track has been used very little, and Isola suspects the surface did not need to be replaced.

“The Tarmac was for sure, quite old,” he said. “But this doesn’t mean that was not good for racing.

“It was a decision we have to accept because it is done. So there is very little we can do.”

However Isola believes the extremely low grip drivers have experienced could create an exciting race.

“The result is basically very little grip. It is not a drama, in my opinion, because it’s an additional challenge for drivers and it’s a bit of unpredictability for the engineer. So when you have this kind of situation, sometimes you have even better racing.”

Pirelli brought its hardest selection of tyres this weekend, anticipating an abrasive surface and high cornering forces at Istanbul’s distinctive turn eight. Isola said they would have brought compounds one stage softer – the C2, C3 and C4 – had they known about the resurfacing in time to change their selection.

He said Pirelli were not aware of the late decision to resurface the track in time partly due to the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. “I believe that it was a bit more difficult this year because of the new circuits and maybe the information flow was not so good.

“It was all organised in a rush, many circuits confirmed very late stage. Maybe also the promoter decided to resurface the track very late. So it is a bit of a particular situation, I would say the consequence of this Covid situation that is changing the balance in many areas also in the information flow.”

The conditions at the circuit were exacerbated by rain which fell during final practice on Saturday morning. “When you have a new Tarmac there is oil in the Tarmac,” Isola explained. “Then when you have water going into the Tarmac the oil is going into the surface, coming from the surface and making the surface very slippery.”

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2020 Turkish Grand Prix

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    13 comments on “Istanbul Park resurfacing may have been unnecessary”

    1. What I find hard to believe is that the circuit owner can do a last minute resurfacing of the track surface without consulting the FIA. If indeed the FIA were aware of the work, why didn’t they tell Pirelli? The whole thing is a little odd. I’m not complaining, it’s going to lead to an exciting weekend, but something in the process seems a little off.

      1. They are incompetent, too corrupt, to care to do their job. Most things that we believe FIA does are actually not done, just by reading the rule books one can point to several instances in which the rules and processes are not followed.

      2. Yes, that is a bit hard to believe. Surely they would have to at least inform, if not consult with the tech staff of the FIA @john-h.

        That said, I am quite sceptical that this was a resurfacing “just for image”. That surface was a decade old. We are in a country that has pretty warm, sunny sommers. And part of the track has been used to park lease cars for several years now.
        Probably had trucks carrying cars parking there regularly as well.

        At my previous employer we had a situation like that and let me tell you the tarmac would be horrible to drive on, since those wheels WILL have formed tyre formed indentures in regular distances from being parked there in the warm weather, having the tarmac melting a bit.

    2. As I understand the circuit was used as parking lot for rentals and trucks. Resulting in a very bumpy surface with lots of oil leaking.

      1. A shame that this great track isn’t used for racing.

    3. When the Australian GP was canceled there was an article about the “only other” race to be canceled where the whole F1 crew arrived. That was at the 1985 Belgian GP, where the problem was that the resurfacing work has been done to poor quality, the drivers were crazy slow and the track started cracking up on qualifying day before they completely abandoned the weekend. It was early in the summer I think, and the resurfaced once again, so that the GP was held without problems in September – but the article mentioned that the rules that year required that track work must be completed 60 days before the race at a venue. My question is, how long ago did they finish the resurfacing in Istanbul, and is there some requirement like that in the regulations currently?

      1. The Dallas 1984 GP was nearly cancelled as well when the surface broke up. If I remember rightly some of the drivers were out there on the morning of the race helping the local workers get fresh cement into the holes in the track.

        1. Yes I read about it, but I think the heat was a huge contributing factor there? Anyways I put in the anecdotal part because that’s where I read about the rules, that’s what I’d be most interested in.

      2. Apparently they finished the resurfacing 10 days ago

        1. Wow, thanks.

          1. The first of the Mexican GPs in their most recent return also happened with a surface finished only days before. No idea what the requirements are, just for you to know that there have been other cases aparto from those already mentioned.

    4. Too much whining

    5. Is there a way to resurface tracks just before a GP each year or maybe just the corners, with a slippery asphalt? Even with just a cheap layer on top if that’s at all possible?

      Obviously not every race because then they’d build cars to cater for the different asphalt, but maybe 4-5 races per year?

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