18 replies to this topic

[Lotus53B]

Since I started watching in 1971, many things have changed in Formula One to stop the carnage that had been happening.

 

Thanks to the work of Jackie Stewart, and belatedly the FIA, circuits had been changed to stop the deaths, and rightly so.

But since then the cars have changed massively.  The FIA have mandated increased performance of the safety cell, they have introduced the HANS system and many other improvements.  We have massive run off areas, concreted, not gravelled, and the drivers now drive far more aggresively, knowing that they face fewer risks.

Is it now time to remove some of the chicanes, to bring back the classic corners, to allow the older circuits to live and breathe again as they were?

 

Forgive me for re-introducing a perennial topic - I've been watching a series of races from this year, and seeing the old tracks that have bits closed off - corners that used to be one flowing movement, now a series of corrections, I can't help but wonder if going retro may be the right thing to do.

 

[LittleChris]

A lot of us have been saying this since the over-reaction to Senna's death. Problem is the decent tracks had long disappeared even before he died.

[pingu666]

how many tracks are chinad to death now? that are on the calander still

guess barcalona and imola spring to mind, imalo isnt in f1 tho.

monza?

[Andrew Hope]

how many tracks are chinad to death now? that are on the calander still

guess barcalona and imola spring to mind, imalo isnt in f1 tho.

monza?

Are you a bit drunk tonight too? I can hardly understand this post.

 

[pingu666]

is quite late, but not drunk

[johnmhinds]

Off the top of my head I can't think of any of the current F1 tracks that would have their racing improved by removing any chicanes.

[Kalmake]

Off the top of my head I can't think of any of the current F1 tracks that would have their racing improved by removing any chicanes.

Catalunya last chicane removes a great corner. No chicanes Monza would be a unique challenge. Österreichring (now Red Bull Ring) was great. That's about it.

[johnmhinds]

I can't remember anything exciting happening at the last corner of Catalunya before the chicane was put in, other than cars running wide a few times.

And Monza has had chicanes for almost all of its existance, removing them might make it interesting for the speed, but it wouldn't create any interesting racing.

[PayasYouRace]

It would take a lot more than removing the chicanes at Monza to return to the great slipstreaming battles. Modern cars just don't race like that.

 

I do miss the last corner at Barcelona mainly because the chicane they put in is one of the worst I've ever seen. I'd have preferred if they'd just tightened it to make it a 3rd gear corner.

[SonnyViceR]

And Monza has had chicanes for almost all of its existance, removing them might make it interesting for the speed, but it wouldn't create any interesting racing.

 

Doesn't matter, the P1 Audis recently going through the first turn without chicane was one of the most spectacular sights one can have.

[johnmhinds]

Doesn't matter, the P1 Audis recently going through the first turn without chicane was one of the most spectacular sights one can have.

 

 

I agree that the cars would look impressive going at full speed through Curva Grande.

 

But removing the chicanes from Monza and turning the Lesmo corners into the only passing place isn't going to be good for creating any close racing, and is going to be awful for the spectators.

[pingu666]

might get passes into curva grande, and parabolica

[Andrew Hope]

There's an easy way to make the race at Monza more interesting, and that is to go to Imola.

[scheivlak]

might get passes into curva grande, and parabolica

Don't think removing chicanes would make much difference for the Parabolica.....

[pingu666]

they would run less wing, so ascari would be harder

[scheivlak]

they would run less wing, so ascari would be harder

which is relevant for the straight between Ascari and Parabolica but not so much for Parabolica itself.

[johnmhinds]

There's an easy way to make the race at Monza more interesting, and that is to go to Imola.

 

Maybe if the Imola redesign hadn't turned the pit straight into a death trap.

[BRG]

There's an easy way to make the race at Monza more interesting, and that is to go to Imola   Mugello.

Fixed.  Why go from one chicane-ridden track to another?  Use the best track in Italy instead.  And it's got a high speed rail link to Roma and Milano!

[Kristian]

I think its time we brought back gravel traps and grass - partly from aesthetics and partly because it would stop the pisstaking of going wide in corners and not being punished at all. Great corners are not thrilling for the drivers or spectators if surrounded by a mile of asphalt. The main danger of gravel is barrel-rolling, and that dissipates so much energy that its actually safer than spearing into a barrier head on (which asphalt has no effect on if the car has a brake failure or it is wet), not to mention that safety cells are pretty much bullet proof now. The gravel at Monza and how it used to be at the Nurburgring was sloped upwards towards the barriers, which was perfectly good for stopping cars reaching them at speed. On the aesthetic side, i remember how horrendously horrible the A1-Ring looked in 2003 when they asphalted all the run-offs there - and it is probably the most beautiful setting in the world for a circuit... 

 

Another point: If gravel had been surrounding the Abu Dhabi track, I doubt Alonso would have gone wide and hurt his back... 

 

Or, at the very least, if you are going to have super-safe asphalt runoff, then at least put the stands closer to the track - I refuse to spend my hard-earned money going to races at modern circuits as the spectators look so detached (luckily I've been to races at Melbourne, Montreal and Monza where the stands are still pretty close to the action). 

 

But yes on a new circuit with miles of run-off why have chicaned corners? The original end of the esses at Austin was meant to be much faster until Charlie chicaned it, yet it would not have been unsafe at all. Abu Dhabi is just a joke - that chicane before the hairpin is one of the most excruciating corners to watch F1 cars go round (and its bloody unsafe - the amount of times cars end up on top of each other there is unreal - e.g. GP2 this year or Schumacher/Luizzi in 2010). 

 

And its time to surround Eau Rouge with gravel again. I was rewatching some old onboards recently going through there, and seeing drivers thread it through that narrow ribbon was amazing - now its just 'uh, he's done it flat and gone wide. Big deal'.