Yas Marina Circuit of Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to undergo track changes – Formula 1 news
The Yas Marina Circuit of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will undergo track modifications for the 2011 Formula 1 race in order to boost overtaking.
The circuit, which has been designed to assist overtaking, failed to impress at the season finale of the 2010 Formula 1 season. The drivers did not find many opportunities to go pass their opponents and the last race of the season failed to impress.
“Races like Abu Dhabi in 2010, where you cannot overtake, are not acceptable,” International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Jean Todt said.
The potential layout changes have been discussed during meetings that took place at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia between Yas Marina Circuit chief executive officer Richard Cregan and Formula 1 officials.
Richard confirmed that the changes between turns 6 and 9 will be made before November’s penultimate round of the 2011 Formula 1 season. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is not going to be the finale of the season as the FIA has scheduled the Brazilian Grand Prix
as the last race in order to offer some drama to its audience.
However, Cregan stated that these changes have not been requested officially because of the flaws with the original layout of the Yas Marina Circuit.
“We spoke with Charlie Whiting and he spoke with the drivers and they actually had very few issues with the circuit,” said Richard.
On the other hand, it has been announced that some seating space at the Interlagos circuit in Brazil will be demolished in order to make room for more “run-off.” These changes have been done after the recent death of a Brazilian stock car driver Gustavo
Sondermann.
The 2011 Formula 1 season is slowly but surely living up to the expectations of the audience. The season-opener in Australia was not very exciting, but the Malaysian Grand Prix certainly lived up to the hype with the usage of Kinetic Energy Recovery System
and Drag Reduction System.
Let’s hope the trend continues in the third race of the season, the Shanghai Grand Prix which is scheduled for this weekend.
Tags: