Formula 1 appreciaton thread [ 0T ]

This is from when I ran a race business in Kent, Washington.

The surface of the track is made of graywacke aggregate, shipped to Bahrain from Bayston Hill quarry in Shropshire, England. The surface material is highly acclaimed by circuit bosses and Formula 1 drivers for the high level of grip it offers. The same aggregate material is used at the Yas Marina Circuit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.[12]

A lap in a Formula One car:

The DRS zone is on the pit straight at the Bahrain Grand Prix (starting 2012), so turn 1 ("Michael Schumacher turn") is the prime overtaking opportunity. The corner itself is incredibly tight; a typical F1 car must brake approximately 100 metres before the corner and shift right down to gear one. The width of the track further adds to the overtaking possibilities.[13] Turns 2 and 3 are flat out and gaining a good exit can set up an overtaking opportunity into turn 4. The straight leading to turn 4 is very long, and the track at the corner itself is incredibly wide, at about thirty metres.[13] Turns 5, 6 and 7 make up a high-speed left-right-left "S" section that leads into turn 8, a right-hand hairpin where taking a wide line can avoid the bump on the apex which unsettles the car.[14] Turns 9 and 10 are very challenging as they are two blind left-handers where cars must brake, downshift and turn simultaneously - they go from 205 km/h in gear 5 down to 63 km/h in gear 1 whilst trying to avoid locking up their inside front tyres.[13] The back straight leads down into turns 11, 12 and 13, a medium-speed complex of corners. Turn 11 is a fourth-gear left hander that leads immediately into the flat-out right hander of 12, then the third gear right-hander of turn 13 which requires a good exit to gain speed down the following straight. It is worth braking quite early for turn 14 to gain speed down the main straight.[14] If you brake about 100 metres before the apex then it is easy to keep it tidy through the slow right hander and you can also put the power down early, and gain speed all the way through turn 15 and the main straight (which is the DRS zone).

The lap record (which only accounts for laps set in a race) on the current layout of the Grand Prix circuit was set in 2005 by Pedro de la Rosa at 1:31.447,[1] in what was the only fastest lap in his 104-race career.[15] Michael Schumacher set a faster time of 1:30.252 at the 2004 edition of the race, but alterations to turn 4 of the track meant that it was counted as a different layout from 2005 onwards.[1] The fastest time ever set at the track was produced by Sebastian Vettel during qualifying for the 2018 edition at 1:27.958, beating the previous record by Valtteri Bottas, set during qualifying for the 2017 edition (1:28.769).[16]

The Spanish Grand Prix (Spanish: Gran Premio de España) is a Formula One race currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Barcelona. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating its centenary in 2013.

The circuit is not known to produce copious amounts of overtaking, despite the long straights.

I hope Indy cars adopt it.