Formula 1 Circuits

[Penfold]

Imola!  Terms of a four-year deal said to have been agreed, which is rather pleasing to hear.  Rumour has it that Paul Ricard will get the boot to make space for the Gran Premio del Made in Italy e dell'Emilia-Romagna

[Chrill]

I mean, I clearly prefer Imola. But France, with two (3 if you count Leclerc) drivers and a team, should they not have a pretty much guaranteed slot on the grid? Let Paul Ricard trial the full Mistral straight for 2022, and if the race is still nothing in these 2022-cars, then go Imola for 2023.

[Penfold]

Don't try and bring logic into the proceedings!  Actually I think still nothing is confirmed on an Imola/Paul Ricard swap, but with the Chinese race again in doubt next year, there might be opportunity for both European tracks to grace the calendar.

Oh, and I see Vegas is once again being talked up as a potential race. I'm sure they'd carve a thrilling course out of the local roads....

[Chrill]

Indeed looks like no China for 2022, so France gets to stay for another year. We'll see if Imola or Paul Ricard gets booted out for China come 2023, the Shanghai circuit is fine and it's surely a location F1 is keen to stay in. Especially if Alfa Romeo slots Zhou next to Bottas.

[Chrill]

F1 is going to Vegas.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-las-vegas-night-race-2023-saturday/9462772/

Let's be honest here. The circuit is not better than what we designed in this very forum in the past.

Still, F1 is all about glitz and glamour. A night race in Las Vegas fits perfectly. With the current upturn of popularity, thanks to the Netflix documentary or to Lewis Hamilton's exposure or to whatever other reason, a 3rd race in USA makes perfect sense. Across a similar land mass in Europe, we have what, 10 races?

Racing down the Strip, reaching speeds of up to 210 mph (340 km/h), all the lights of the city bouncing of the cars? There will easily be overtakes on this circuit, it's a pretty basic layout. A night race will benefit US viewers and I don't mind staying up all night to watch it. Racing on a Saturday? Awesome, I have 24 hours to fix my sleep schedule before work.

All in all, great move by F1. Hopefully this race punts Paul Ricard off the calendar.

[Chrill]

I decided to superimpose the official circuit on two of our previous Vegas attempts. At least we're in the right area, no?

Red and yellow are two of my earlier layouts, and green is the official announced circuit.

[Penfold]

Couldn't do a Vegas race and not use the Strip, but obviously easier for them to hook round to the East to run through some back streets and a couple of car parks/undeveloped areas - hard to tell exactly what from the aerial shot - than close off the main road to the West.  All about the lights and the glitz anyway, and timing should be good for the domestic market; and for me extended highlights will likely be late morning on Sunday, which is easier than the midnight slot US races usually inhabit.

[Chrill]

I'll definitely wake up early to catch the first race. It'll be Sunday morning, around 6am, in Sweden. This'll be the first Saturday race since the mid-1980s, so I suppose Friday practice on a Thursday?

[Chrill]

https://carbuzz.com/news/formula-1-set-to-lose-its-most-iconic-circuit

Could Monaco be on the way out? The racing is awful for sure, but the spectacle of qualifying in Monaco alone is worth visiting.

[Penfold]

Just haggling over length of new contract, says promoter guy:

The president of the Automobile Club de Monaco has dismissed reports the principality is at risk of losing its grand prix.

The 2022 Formula 1 calendar is due to feature a record 23 races once a replacement for the cancelled Russian Grand Prix is found. Two further events will join the schedule next year, in Qatar and Las Vegas.  The announcement of the latter last month, which will push F1 close to its current limit of 24 races per season, prompted speculation some European rounds may be unable to renew their contracts. Monaco is among the venues seeking a new deal.

Speaking at a meeting of the ACM, president Michel Boeri rejected claims the race could be dropped from the calendar.

"People have been talking about supposed difficulties after this year in organising grands prix, Liberty Media's financial demands being too high for Monaco, and that our grand prix is going to disappear," said Boeri in comments widely reported by local media. "It's not true. We are still in talks with them and now we have to materialise by signing a contract. I don't know if the contract will last three or five years, but these are just details."

[Chrill]

In regards to Monaco. Charles Leclerc suggested turning left before the tunnel to give us a longer straight and create an opportunity for overtaking. I obliged.

The yellow is the current layout, the red is my suggestion including Charles' long run. I also added an orange to further extend and further give a higher speed passage. It skips the Fairmont/Loews/Hotel hairpin, so virtually impossible to get approval.

[Penfold]

Personally I wouldn't want to lose the Massanet/Casino section, but I see what you're doing with the extended run down into Mirabeau - though road might need smoothing! Longer run into tunnel is interesting, wonder what speeds they'd be hitting?

[Chrill]

According to my simulations, not that much more than today. Maybe 290 in qualifying, 280 in race.

My simulations, of course, is me guessing at random.

[Penfold]

They were hitting 180 mph (290 km/h) this year, but not until out of the tunnel, I was thinking more how a longer run would boost speeds in the tunnel itself - think they do 160 mph through the curve now so it might add another 20 to that.

[Penfold]

F1 boss guy in South Africa for race chat: https://www.racefans.net/2022/06/13/f1-ceo-domenicali-visits-kyalami-for-talks-over-2023-race/