38 replies to this topic

[F1Johnny]

What do you figure is the fastest corner in F1 and how fast do they go through the corner? My guess would be Blanchimont leading up to the Bus Stop Chicane. Speed? I would guess 175mph.

Your thoughts?

[Ali_G]

I think Eau ROuge is faster, something like 180. Not too sure though.

I am sure there are corners on certain F1 tracks that are taken flat out at about 200. Can't remember any at the moment though.

Niall

[Mellon]

When does a kink become a corner? For example is the corner at the pitlane entrance at Interlagos a corner? Or the kink at the pitlane exit in Montreal? Or the tunnel in Monaco? Or the Golf Course Bend in the middle of the long straight at Magny Cours? I would guess that speeds at all the above corners/kinks are around 260-290km/h.

[Ross Stonefeld]

The Tunnel is very much a corner. The rest you listed are just bending straights.

[se7en_24]

What about Indy?

[Ross Stonefeld]

Id put Indy under bending straight. Im not even sure it'd be a corner in the wet

[Ali_G]

Or there is a bvery fast kink at Estoril (yes, they don't use the place anymore) but its corner no 7 I beleive, on the back straight.

Niall

[Kaiser]

How fast is 130r?

[Scudetto]

According to the Autosport circuit maps:
130R (Suzuka) = 170 mph
Blanchimont (Spa) = 195 mph
Curva Grande (Monza) = 180 mph

[nordschleife]

If a section has a history of "offs" which were a result of excessive speed then it's a corner. If it doesn't then it's a bending straight. Seems to me, anyway.

[F1Johnny]

The distinction between a kink and a corner is difficult. I would put Interlagos in the bend category, but 130R is a corner, as is the tunnel. Curva Grande seems more like a bend too.

How about this? A bend requires little attention during setup, whereas a corner would become a major part of the equation when setting up the car.

[Indian Chief]

IMO, a corner is one which is challenging flat (i.e. it needs a lot of effort to take it flat out), while a kink is easily flat out in the dry.

So, my guess would be Blanchimont.

[DataFly]

Originally posted by Indian Chief
IMO, a corner is one which is challenging flat (i.e. it needs a lot of effort to take it flat out), while a kink is easily flat out in the dry.

So, my guess would be Blanchimont.

[Vunz]

I think the ITT-Bogen at the Nuerburgring is a pretty fast corner (or is it a kink?)

[Shiftin]

A dumb question maybe, but wouldn't the fastest corner be the one that has the highest G-force on the driver? (I understand the speed might not be the highest but I think I am right, can't explain it though.... : )

[maclaren]

IMO one of most effective corners in F1 is that in last sector of Suzuka.

Eau Rouge is more a hill than corner.

[Vunz]

That's 130R, since I don't think you mean the Casio Triangle.

[Ed Kooij]

All depends on what a corner is indeed.
If a bend's a corner, I would say the old "straights" between the Nordkurve and Ostkurve at Hockenheim... 360+ km/h must be a winner

As for Blanchimont: even though Burti won't agree with me, I still think it's more a bend than a corner. I can't remember ever seeing someone crash out at that point due to excessive speed (it's flat out for an F1)

So I would say either 130R or Eau Rogue

[random]

No question, Blanchimont.

[olschak]

what is a corner, a bended straight?
maybe a corner is a place where it would be quicker to take a shortcut rather than staying on track.

[palmas]

Originally posted by olschak
what is a corner, a bended straight?
maybe a corner is a place where it would be quicker to take a shortcut rather than staying on track.

Think again, to take a shortcut you would have other corner(s).
I would say a corner exists when acthe car angle when leaving it is different from when entering it.
If you can cut it completly, its not a corner, if you can't, it's a corner.

And the fastest should be the time to take it, not the speed they go through it.

[squiggle bob]

from dictionary.com

corner
n.
1. a. The position at which two lines, surfaces, or edges meet and form an angle: the four corners of a rectangle.

kink

adj.
Slang. Showing or appealing to bizarre or deviant tastes, especially of a sexual or erotic nature: “his appetite for kinky filmmaking, unmitigated by any artistry”

errr..

n.
1. A tight curl, twist, or bend in a length of thin material, as one caused by the tensing of a looped section of wire.

[HSJ]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
The Tunnel is very much a corner. The rest you listed are just bending straights.

A straight is just a curve with an infinite radius of curvature (if I get my terminology straight here ). Funny that you should say "bending straights." I'd say all curves are like that. But I guess you mean that you choose some cut-off on how steeply it has to bend to be called a corner/curve.

[palmas]

Originally posted by HSJ


A straight is just a curve with an infinite radius of curvature (if I get my terminology straight here ). Funny that you should say "bending straights." I'd say all curves are like that. But I guess you mean that you choose some cut-off on how steeply it has to bend to be called a corner/curve.

As someone allways points out, there are only two infinite things, and radius is not one of them... OOPS


But you're quite right, mathematicly, but consider that what they call a bending straight is when you can have a infinite radius curvature that can be limited by the two parallel finite radius curvature that limit the passing way for the car!

[GreenLantern]

Probably Blanchimont - tho' if you include bends, Parabolika at Hockenheim may be an option. If you're very purist about it and exclude Blanchimont, then my vote would be 130R or Bridge at Silverstone.

Who would be the best among the current lot at taking fast corners? Probably Michael I guess, tho' Fisi , JV and JPM are also good at riding the kerbs.

[magic]

indy?

[Schummy]

With due respect, I think "fastest corner" is a undeterminate question, as has been said earlier here.

The most faster a corner is, the less "corner" it is. You can always argue about a corner in the definition limit between a corner and a straight. Today corner A can be a "corner" and tomorrow considered a flat out no-corner, because technical circunstances about car perfomances are always evolving. In reverse, a previously considered corner B, maybe today is not a corner because today it is flat out.

I think someone remembered in TNF that Eau Rouge was not always considered the most challenging corner in classic Spa circuit because those years F1 cars went much slower about it. And many peolple thought the big one in Spa was Masta (now bypassed in the new circuit). It's thought that Masta would be a flat out "kink" for current F1 cars.

In short, my opinion is there is not a "fastest corner" in F1 but "definition limit corners" and people have mentioned here many of them.

[mikedeering]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
The Tunnel is very much a corner. The rest you listed are just bending straights.

Well just try driving straight on them and see how far you get ;)

[maxim]

Some fast corners of the past:
Signes at Le Castellet
Nearly the whole at old Osterreichring

[Flying Panda]

Experts have aparently confirmed that IF Formula One ran at Mt. Panorama, the 'Caltex Chase' would be the world's fastest corner. (Road circuit, that is)

[PAD]

F1 at Mount Panorama - I'm drooling just at the thought of it.

Must write an email.
to: b_eccelstone @fia.org
subject : scrap melbourne ......

[Zmeej]

Mikedeering

[AMD]

Originally posted by Shiftin
A dumb question maybe, but wouldn't the fastest corner be the one that has the highest G-force on the driver? (I understand the speed might not be the highest but I think I am right, can't explain it though.... : )

there is no force acting on you at a constant speed, so it has to be a place where the maximum amount of acceleration is happening.

There are different kinds of acceleration, but the main one in cornering is due to a centrifugal force. In Eau Rouge there is a hill, so gravitational force pushes the car down, the terrain has a natural compression that makes for "impossible" speeds. The forces are higher on the driver than normal, so it's a higher G with that extra vertical component.

Wasn't it at the TMS that had too high vertical G forces for the CART drivers, so bad they couldn't race there?

[berge]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
The Tunnel is very much a corner. The rest you listed are just bending straights.

The Tunnel is taken flat out. In a F1 car set up for Monaco, it can't be considered a 'corner'.

I think the answer is Blanchimont at Spa. It is considered a 'corner' because it is not taken flat out.

[Jerry Lee]

Originally posted by AMD
...Wasn't it at the TMS that had too high vertical G forces for the CART drivers, so bad they couldn't race there?

Yes it was Texas. Not only were the G forces too high but the drivers were experiencing them almost constantly. The short backstretch did not give the drivers heads (blood and inner ear) enough time to return to normal before starting to turn again.

[K-One]

Don't know much about fastest corner, but I know the fastest chicane: Alex Yoong!

[Ross Stonefeld]

Originally posted by berge


The Tunnel is taken flat out. In a F1 car set up for Monaco, it can't be considered a 'corner'.

I think the answer is Blanchimont at Spa. It is considered a 'corner' because it is not taken flat out.

Ive heard the tunnel is flat, but just barely. Something about the aerodynamic turbulence bouncing off the roof of the tunnel makes for some interesting aero situations.

At any rate, my pic is Blanchimont. Though it really straddles the line between corner and turn in the road

[berge]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld


Ive heard the tunnel is flat, but just barely. Something about the aerodynamic turbulence bouncing off the roof of the tunnel makes for some interesting aero situations.

At any rate, my pic is Blanchimont. Though it really straddles the line between corner and turn in the road

Tunnel is flat, no problem. Rain or Shine.

'aerodynamic turbulence bouncing off the roof' ?????? Never heard of this one.

[wati]

Originally posted by maclaren
IMO one of most effective corners in F1 is that in last sector of Suzuka.

Eau Rouge is more a hill than corner.

It's a hell of an uphill corner!

Wattie