Big screw up in Korea?

[LuiggiSpeed]

There has been a considerable amount of concern expressed by F1 drivers following the opening two practice sessions ahead of this weekend's inaugural Korean Grand Prix about the position of the pit-lane entry at the Korea International Circuit, with two of the sport's most experienced and respected competitors describing it as 'dangerous'.

The construction of the 5.62km, anti-clockwise track in Yeongam County around 250 miles to the south-west of the South Korean capital of Seoul has been beset by problems and delays, with almost two months of persistent rainfall meaning the circuit was only finally approved for racing by FIA safety delegate Charlie Whiting on 12 October – a mere week-and-a-half ago, and a long time after the stipulated 90-day deadline.

Whiting has asked for changes to be made to the surface at Turn 16, where cars are 'bottoming-out', and the amount of dust on the circuit from the eleventh-hour building efforts that have gone on has also come in for criticism – but the chief cause for consternation is the fact that the entry to the pits is on the exit of a blind corner, leading to fears of accidents given the speed differential between cars peeling off for new tyres and those carrying straight on.

“It's very dangerous,” the BBC quotes Lotus Racing veteran Jarno Trulli as having stressed, the Italian lamenting that drivers were not consulted on the track layout and revealing that the matter will be raised with Whiting, adding that the pit-lane exit and first corner similarly leave something to be desired. “They don't even ask us anything about circuit layout – nothing.

“I had problems because I was twice stuck in gear. While I was fine to make it back, I was so slow that I had to look after myself when I was getting in. In this longer, blind right-hand corner I had to stay right on the racing line and I was so slow that I was wondering if someone might hit me in the back.

“This is a big issue in my opinion. There is no other option – [the entry to the pits] is right on the racing line, and the racing line is right on the far right-hand side facing the wall.”

“If someone is pitting, you have to take a tighter line and then it might be a bit dangerous if you are really close,” concurred Renault F1 star Robert Kubica. “It might be quite tight. The last corner is quite challenging – it's quite blind.

“The first few corners are quite boring. After Turn Nine there is quite a lot of action going on; Turn Ten is quite nice, and also Eleven and Twelve and from there it's quite a nice track. I was quite surprised by the layout – it is ten times better than Abu Dhabi (which made its debut on the calendar in 2009).”

Whilst the general consensus seems to be that the circuit is a rewarding one to drive, there has been rather less praise for the somewhat unfinished nature of the facilities and the safety angle, but the sport's commercial rights-holder Bernie Ecclestone has spoken up to defend the race organisers over the chaotic preparations.

If this track was revised by any of us we would have noticed right away.

[bio]

Yep, surely - probably SBF

But it's great to have this piece of news - justifies some of us when we're so adamant about pitlane entry/exit positions - especially the exits.

bio

[bio]

Plus, if it was revised by SBF, the track direction would be reversed and then, according to Christian Horner, would be better for the Red Bulls

bio

[TerryD]

As regard the pit entry! They could redesign the last bend quickly and easily. If you draw a straight line from turn 16 to the pit entry road it would miss the blind bend. Just means they would have to make a hole in the wall opposite turn 16 and lay a bit of tarmac.It would make the pit-entry a bit longer but much safer.Some advice for Mr.Tilke thats free! Just hope he agrees with me.

[bio]

As far as I know they are planning to build houses and other buildings around that part of the track, so that might be the reason the pit entry is a bit awkward asnd there is no possibility to redesign it.

bio

[Purist]

Well, around the inside of Turn 17, they're building the marina, so hopefully, by next year, the yachts will be moored drivers' right on the inside of that crescent. At least, that's the plan.

My thought for the last few days has been that they needed to put pit lane on the inside of the track, but I'm not sure that there's space to put the garages and everything between the two straights.

Frankly, I think they should have stuck with the original track layout, and then put the pit lanes in the infield. And with pit lane on the inside, you could probably have pit in past Turn 18, and just have pit out after Turn 2, without it constricting the run-off area.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

I have to say that I was appalled by the GP pit entry and the pit exits on both the GP and the Short version, with both coming on the outside of their respective T1s.

From the early drawings I'd always assumed that the pits were internal, rather than external to the circuit.

The GP pit entry is the easiest to resolve as TerryD points out by having the pit entry cut across the run-off rather than having to hug the semicircular wall and then go around the outside of the run-off area.

The pit out is an altogether different issue. THere is no easy way, without adding 100s of metres to the pit exit, by running it around the outside of the T1 run-off (they can't reduce this due to the speeds on the pit straight), and have them join the long straight at a very slight angle. THe issue there being that the curve of any pit exit and section to join back onto the straight would have cars exiting the pitlane at a much faster speed than those who went through T1 ... unless they have to keep the pit lane limiter on for a stupidly long time, which would then remove the 2 stop strategy as you'd loose way to much time in the pit lane.

[Matt]

I think it's fine. The drivers need to suck it up and get on with it. If Monaco is considered safe enough to race on, there shouldn't be any complaints here.

[bio]

Matt,
the drivers cannot do anything else, can they? They suck it up, go and race.

That doesn't make the pitlane exit/entry any better though.

bio

[Matt]

Originally Posted by bio

Matt,
the drivers cannot do anything else, can they? They suck it up, go and race.

That doesn't make the pitlane exit/entry any better though.

bio

They can boycott the race, much like the Michelin teams did at Indy in '06.

[tux]

I am sure there will be no issue becuase cars cannot follow each other closeley anyway

[bio]

Originally Posted by Matt

They can boycott the race, much like the Michelin teams did at Indy in '06.

I doubt they would be brave enough to act on their own... I can't remember the last time drivers acted on their own in their own interest, against what their team managements told or wanted them to do - let alone Bernie...

bio

[ScotsBrutesFan]

I see that Petrov did his best to knock a hole in the barrier, exactly where we are calling for a modified pit lane entry to join the existing pitlane.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

I see that Petrov did his best to knock a hole in the barrier, exactly where we are calling for a modified pit lane entry to join the existing pitlane.

If that had been gravel, he woulda never hit the wall.

[mattt]

also if they'd started the pits at turn 16 they could've started the pitlane proper earlier, and had an earlier exit, although that would mean the first few may not be exactly opposite their pitboxes on the pitwall

[bio]

Once again: there will be a marina on the right side of the semi-circular section just before the pit entry, so it's not really possible to put the pit entry earlier I believe.

bio

[LuiggiSpeed]

That's why you need a real designer who foresees problems before they actually happen, now there's littel that can be done because the track is already there!

Makes me wonder how come Tilke's name keeps popping out on F1 circus, he must be really connected to FIA since some of his tracks have been criticized over pure racing aspect by drivers , this one critique in particular regarding safety and practicality, they keep calling guy all over the world and I really don't see anything awe inspiring in his designs over, say Alan Wilson's work which includes Barber and Miller, works of art IMHO.

[bio]

Well, I guess it's either him holding the right strings to pull, or the fact that his tracks ahve so far served the purpose - there weren't any really negative things happening on them, and maybe Bernie doesn't want to change until mit becomes necessary...

bio

[LuiggiSpeed]

Originally Posted by bio

Well, I guess it's either him holding the right strings to pull, or the fact that his tracks ahve so far served the purpose - there weren't any really negative things happening on them, and maybe Bernie doesn't want to change until mit becomes necessary...

bio

they say "follow the money trail" around here

[mjolnir]

look, they're not gonna bypass Turn 17, so why not put a little jump on the outside of 17, so the cars "sail" across the propose marina into the pit lane? sorta like a complete opposite of pit exit at Abu Dhabi?

[ScotsBrutesFan]

If they had put the pitlane on the other side of the track in the first place this discussion wouldn't even be necessary

[bio]

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

If they had put the pitlane on the other side of the track in the first place this discussion wouldn't even be necessary

Once again, I think it would be impossible due to the buildings planned to be built there...

bio

[AFC-911]

Originally Posted by bio

Once again, I think it would be impossible due to the buildings planned to be built there...

But the buildings have yet to be built...It would be easier to make changes now than to build anyway while there's still problems with the track.

[bio]

Originally Posted by AFC-911

But the buildings have yet to be built...It would be easier to make changes now than to build anyway while there's still problems with the track.

In an ideal world, well, sure. But in our, money-driven world... I highly doubt the professional reasonings of the teams would stand half a chance against the firms who build the skyscrapers and other buildings inside the track...

bio

[dyewat808]

Thing that gets me about this is that there was no need to screw it up. Its just poor design. There shouldn't even have been an issue like this. In the drafts (if Tilke does any ) they should have noticed this issue, moved where the buildings will be, and put the pit-lane on the infield.

I can bet if someone had posted this as a My Track design like someone said earlier, we would have noticed this, and that's frustrating when you start thinking that it should have been done better.

Having said that rant , I do like this track more than others, and think it shows promise. Just a bit of a shame about the pit-lane, but hey you never know, might be a feature that makes it more exciting in the future...