Video shows COTA layout with tarmac laid

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In the round-up: A new video gives the best impression yet of how the Circuit of the Americas will look.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Circuit of the Americas (Austin F1 track) test-drive (YouTube)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LA9Aw7Se-0

A thrilling start (ESPN)

“This just shows you how bad the marbles were in China, and tyres played such a crucial role in the race. I was trying to get an angle somewhere around the track that showed all the debris because it was horrendous. When a car went off-line… well Raikkonen showed how bad it was when he lost all those positions.”

Petrov not nervous about future (Crash)

“Right now all the talk about driver changes has only just started. There is talk about Heikki leaving, rumours Felipe Massa will be kicked out, so maybe this mess will continue until the end of the season.”

Rush (Official website)

The official website for Rush, the film based on the 1976 F1 season.

Reutemann’s title challenge (MotorSport)

Frank Williams: “In terms of equipment we gave Carlos exactly the same as Alan Jones, but there was more to it than that. Carlos needed more psychological support than most drivers, and we probably didn’t appreciate that sufficiently at the time – which is why we didn’t achieve as much together as we should have done.”

Overtaking Aids – Who Has it Right, F1 or IndyCar? (On The Throttle)

“The fundamental problem with open wheel cars is they are unable to run in turbulent air. Introducing DRS or a push-to-pass option does not solve this problem, it is merely a fix for it.”

Silverstone seeking £150m cash injection (The Telegraph)

Stuart Rolt, chairman of the British Racing Drivers Club: “By the end of the year at the latest we will have either done a comprehensive deal for all of Silverstone or we will maybe be talking to entities about renting or buying a long lease on parts of the non-circuit land.”

Comment of the day

@Prisoner-Monkeys’ pithy take on Pastor Maldonado’s latest gaffe:

Maldona-d’oh!
@Prisoner-Monkeys

From the forum

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to F1George, Dan_the_McLaren_fan and Kirill!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Stefan Johansson was fortunate to emerge unscathed from a grisly accident during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix 25 years ago today. The deer his McLaren struck at around 150mph was not so fortunate.

Johansson’s relief at being unhurt was tempered by anger at discovering the deer has been seen running around the track for some time before he hit it.

This was F1’s last visit to the Osterreichring track before it was reconfigured and renamed the A1-Ring and restored to the calendar a decade later. The problem of wildlife remained, however – a deer was spotted on the track during practice for the 2001 race.

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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68 comments on “Video shows COTA layout with tarmac laid”

  1. Haha Maldona-‘doh! xD I have two, but are both too rude

    1. Since “mal” is a negative in latin based languages I am surprised that no-one has come up with something clever in the vein of Mal-contend-o, ideas please from our Spanish, Italian and French speaking F1Fanatics.

      1. Mal-talento

      2. Crash-dor Malfunction-ado

      3. @hohum

        Just call him PAQUETE. It´s translated as package but in spanish, it´s a term used to call somebody that is signed up to a team (it is usually used with soccer players) and promises big things but turns out to be rubbish. It is very simple yet it says a lot…

      4. Sssshhh. Don’t ruin this.

        1. Sorry, didn’t mean to rain on your parade prisoner monkeys.

  2. “a deer was spotted on the track during practice for the 2001 race”

    @keithcollantine – How can you make reference to that incident without linking Montoya’s radio? :D

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heCsKujaxs4

    1. Most likely the funniest radio interchange ever.

      1. Crap, you beat me to it!

        “like a horse, with horns.”

        It doesn’t get any better than that.

    2. Todd (@braketurnaccelerate)
      14th August 2012, 4:42

      I miss Montoya. As an American, it’s not the same watching him finish 25th or worse every weekend in NASCAR.

      1. I couldn’t agree more.

  3. At least we know what it’s like to be onboard a HRT now.

    1. @electrolite it seems they had a DRS and a KERS issue lol

    2. Loved the avoidance of Massa’s Felorry when it came back on track before the second last corner – great driving

  4. If the COTA produces racing as good as it looks like it will, we may have to send Tilke an “all is forgiven, thank you” note.

    1. I may be wrong, but didn’t Tavo Hellmund design this layout?

      1. @looseasagoose the design of COTA is by “The man” himself, but the layout preference is offered by Tavo Hellmund & his consortium of people who take extreme pride in the US GP. They wanted to bring great racing by adding eau rouge’s elevation, Silverstone’s maggots becketts, Shangai’s long back straight and Istanbul’s long turn 8.

        Watch this Video

      2. I should have known Tilke needed outside assistance to produce a proper race-track.

    2. I love this track already..looks brilliant!

  5. Awesome article on the overtaking aid for F1 and Indycars. This has been a good read and I second most of the authors thoughts. While Indycar’s P2P sounds very much like our KERS although the later will have a edge over P2P due to its green earth theme – DRS will still continue to be remain as an unnecessary toy which will override driver’s natural tactical skill. I can still imagine how this years racing would have panned out if there were refueling during races and of course no DRS. We could have seen closer racing than we see now.

    1. Thanks for the feedback!

    2. Concerning the “green earth theme”. On the surface it sounds like its better for the earth but is it really ?? I mean KERS does use a battery which has all sorts of nasty things in it and then how do you dispose of it when its worn out ? I wouldnt be suprised if each F1 car has a new KERS batt in it for every race and if thats the case, thats alot of batts used each season. However, I’ll have to admit, I’m not sure how these KERS batts are built, exactly whats in them and how they’re disposed of but seems like there is a chance of a big negative eco impact with KERS due to its batteries.

      1. As far as I know, the KERS batteries in F1 are indeed build from toxical materials and are probably used only for one race.

        On the other hand, who better than F1 to spur the development of lighter, more compact technologies (ScarbsF1 mentioned Capacitors being used as part of RBRs system) to store the energy and give it out in big bursts.
        And I wouldn’t be surprised if over time the manufacturers themselves propose a limit on KERS packages/year just as the one in place for engines and gearboxes. After all, the teams have been telling them there’s a limit to what they want to spend on em, and it defenitely does cost a considerable amount of money.

        1. I never really understood how relevant KERS is to F1, at least in the way its used. In F1 it’s used primarily to provide power for the car, a speed boost if you will, which is nothing to do with being green.

          When KERS is used in a road car, I can’t see it being used as a button on the steering wheel to allow the car the pull away from traffic lights faster for instance.

          The way Audi & Toyota use it in Sportscar is much more relevant and green is it not?

          1. Supplementing the use of additional fuel to power the instrument in the common attribute between road car and F1 isn’t? In road cars, drivers tend to use the battery stored power over a period of time and in F1, the power is harnessed for 6.67 seconds per lap.

            While we can’t find greater similarties between F1 and a road car, KERS provides 70 – 80bhp of additional power per lap. IF we translate this :
            [amount of fuel used to get that additional 80bhp (in the absence of KERS)] X [no of laps] X
            [no of cars] X
            [no of races in a calendar]….
            that mounts to several gallons of fuel burnt in a calendar year. I’m sure this will be in FIA’a manifest for a greener earth

            From 2014, use of a V6 turbo will only increase the KERS capacity to hold 800Kilojoules of power

          2. Supplementing the use of additional fuel to power the instrument in the common attribute between road car and F1 isn’t?

            Supplementing the use of additional fuel to power the instrument is the common attribute between road car and F1 isn’t?

          3. green… Add always the airplanes used for the increasingly overseas races and the incredibly beautiful motorhome, i am sure that fuel burned by f1 are less than 0.1% of the total

    3. I can still imagine how this years racing would have panned out if there were refueling during races

      90% of the passing would have been done in the pit lane just like when we last had refueling & fuel strategy would be all important again taking away from the on-track product.

      That was the biggest flaw with refueling, It took racing off the race track & moved it to the pit lane. Races were decided by pit-passing & not on-track overtaking because pit-passing via fuel strategy was easier & less risky & thus became the primary focus of every team who all hired strategist’s who spent thousands developing more advanced strategy simulations.

      If you look at the data you see that when refueling was introduced in 1994 all on-track overtaking figures immediately plummeted & the amount of passing done in the pit lane rose massively. When refueling was banned in 2010 the on-track overtaking figures rose back upto Pre-refueling levels (Despite people believing there was little overtaking in 2010 there was actually more than any season since 1989).

      Refueling is only a good idea if you like strategy & passing in the pits over on-track racing & proper on-track overtaking.

      1. @GT-racer, thank you , I was hoping someone would point out this flaw in an otherwise reasonable comment, you have done it magnificently with a depth of detail and knowledge that should be far more persuasive than my opinion could ever be.

      2. Yep,
        But we saw that drivers did quali time before refueling, not cruising to preserve tires. All the pass today are because of drs or tires worn, is it better?

        1. It is, if only because its a bit more with the drivers doing it. Off course with refuelling the tyres would not be much of a point anyway, as they would have to only last for the fuel stint.

          1. Another negative with refueling was that it took a fair chunk of strategy decisions away from the drivers.

            Pre-Refueling strategy was more in the drivers hand, They had a big say in the tyre strategy & with 4 compounds avaliable & dozens of strategy options the driver could actually ask for tyre strategy to be changed Mid-Race if he felt tyres were holding up better than expected (See Schumacher’s Estoril win in 1993 where he opted to abandon his 2nd stop).

            The fuel strategy was totally in the hend of the engineer’s who were doing all calculations off computers running the simulations.
            The drivers could make a strategy work by been fast at the right time but he had very little input in strategy decisions & once a strategy was selected it was hard to change it as you had a pre-set level of fuel which would get you a set distance into the race.

            The current situation with tyres isn’t perfect, There is a bit too much tyre saving & with only 2 compounds at every race & both having to be used strategy is restricted more than it could be.
            However at least the racing action is back on the track, I don’t really like the DRS passing as its often too easy & some of the tyre related passing is also a bit easier than I would like to see, However at least its passing been done on the track, Its producing on-track racing action & were seeing a ton less passing done in the pit lane.

  6. Poor Reutemann. I’ll always feel sorry about him. My dad always tells me stories about him, so did my father-in-law, who was a big fan of him. So does my mum, incredibly.

    All I get, though, is the indecision from his part. Even today, as a politician, it’s very difficult (apparently) for him to make up his mind. And half the country hails him as a loser.

    It must suck… that feeling of “oh so close, yet so far!” must have been following him ever since his abrupt retirement.

  7. Slowest tour of an F1 track ever, and I loved it! Looks like a pretty interesting circuit.

    1. @schooner

      True but, besides the driver not taking the racing line, it looks awesome!! Turn one is gonna definitely take some guys by surprise and the “S´s” come out of nowhere also! Looks like fun!

    2. To be fair, it is a lap record

    3. Seventeen and a half miles per hour. Yes, I worked it out.

      I half expected the footage to have been taken at 50mph and just to look slow since we are used to race footage. But it really was glacial. Golf carts usually top out at about 15mph, so I guess this was filmed from something that could have gone faster.

      I wish it had.

  8. My birthday was today (august 13th) and I wasn’t mentioned. I know is silly but I subscribed in the topic =P

    1. Oh, is it? On behalf of all f1fanatics, I wish you a very happy birthday!!

      1. On behalf of all f1fanatics, I wish you a very happy birth-yester-day!! BTW you were wished in yesterday’s round-up.

    2. @camo8723 Happy birthday!

      1. It’s been almost a month but thank you very much

    3. HaHaHappy Birthday to you then &camo8723! And the same to everyone who has theirs today.

      1. Thank you =D

  9. Can’t wait to see the Austin F1 track at racing car speed! :)

  10. Oh the famous deer in 2001 with which JPM had some trouble:
    TEAM: There’s a deer on the racetrack. Box this lap.
    JPM: Oh dear!!
    TEAM: Yeah deer…… It’s got… It’s a horse with horns…
    JPM: Yeah I know that….

  11. Just recently purchased My tickets for Austin in November! They were over $1500.00 US each, but My Girl and I are gonna have a blast. Can’t wait!

    1. Either you have a decent car, or you attend a Grand Prix.
      But I assume they’re not ‘general admission’, but more like ‘paddock access’

      1. @verstappen I blew all the money on toys( cars & bikes ) when the economy was good. just tryin to hold on to em now. The tickets aren’t general admission but theyre surely not paddock passes either. I wish! They’re main grandstand top level. I still have a trick or two to get there though… Either way, I will be there with My Hawaiian shirt on. I couldnt afford a vacation and a grand prix, hopefully My Lady will not mind too much…

    2. Yay, have fun, make videos and post them! I hope you got some nice seats for that money.

      1. @bascb thanks My Friend. I will definitely do that. Just checked the CC statement…, they were actually 1250.00 not $1500.00. I chose the main grandstand so We could see the action afterwards. I am definitely stoked, gonna order the fanvision handsets too. Can’t wait till Spa! Goin thru withdrawals, almost feels like the off-season.

        1. @Malibu_GP somehow the off season feels a lot longer this year, we are only halfway through it :-(

          I just had a look at that video and I think the view could be really great from the upper rows in the grandstand. I guess you will lose sight of the cars as they go over the crest of turn one, but the its all open towards the back.

          1. @Bascb I meant end of season (late nov- march) Still though, this summer break is dragging on. I try and stay busy to noavail. I just cant help making the rounds online,seahing for any tidbit I can find. Pathetic I know…, what can I say I’m a fiend.

  12. I just found this preview of Codemasters’ F1 Race Stars, which makes for some interesting reading.

    1. @prisoner-monkeys
      I heard Williams have a early version of this installed on their race simulator so Maldonado can practice his style of racing.

  13. Am i the only one that thinks turn 1 will turn into a massive pile-up at the start ? :(

    1. You mean a Maldona-duh-prone turn one? :p …..

      Yeah, I thought so too and had Senior Maldonado right at the back of my mind. In fact, in the last races I always hold my breath whenever he comes near a car in the corners. Not enjoyable I must tell ya! :(

    2. @pejte A Tilke signature that (with few exceptions). I only assume the idea is to create an overtaking opportunity as close to the main grandstands as possible. Problem is, because too many tracks have a slow/tight first corner, it’s gotten a bit monotonous. A car pile-up at the first corner (or at least somewhere int he first sector) is no longer a surprise, it is to be expected.

      I am nitpicking here, but this is one of my few criticisms of the COTA.

    3. Especially if they put one of the stupidly high kerbs on the apex. We could see a car go over that as it hits the crest of the hill and fly straight into the surprisingly close concrete wall.

  14. Auto Hebdo is reporting that Mercedes is considering a partial withdrawal from Formula 1 in 2014, retreating to a semi-official position as engine supplier, with the Mercedes team formally renamed as AMG F1. The paper cites the team’s lack of success, the Gribkowsky-Ecclestone affair and Eccelstone’s push for Mercedes to commit to the long-term future of the sport as a team as reasons for a potential back-out.

    1. @prisoner-monkeys I hope not. They’ve been a welcome addition, just not a particularly successful one. I guess I could kind of sympathise with the board at Mercedes, particularly based on this season so far. No one team has been dominant yet Mercedes still struggle to hit the podium.

    2. Shows how Concorde Agreement is still not signed then. Maybe Mercedes putting out a few hints to Bernie …

    3. Wow… I really hope not… Although not as succesful as it was expected to be, they are a good team… they just need to get their act together and some consistency… The wins will come with time…

  15. Daniel Bruhl looks brilliant as Lauda, they’ve done well with him there. I also liked him a lot in Inglorious Basterds, thought he was very creepy and well played.

    I’m looking forward to lots about this film. The plot, the cars, the colour and seeing how it all works together.

  16. soundscape (@)
    14th August 2012, 16:18

    That driver missed more apexes than Massa!

    /rimshot

    1. @soundscape I thought it was a HRT!

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