| It is
difficult to pre-determine how Formula1 will cope with
the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as a Formula1 car
has never driven round the track. What is immediately
obvious, though, is that setting-up the cars is going
to be a tricky task.
The oval section of the
track is the longest straight on a Formula1 circuit,
with over 1.8 Kms to be taken at full throttle. The
drivers will need as little downforce as possible to
extract the maximum speeds here, and spectators can
expect to see the cars travelling faster than they do
elsewhere, with predictions of speeds topping 200 mph
already being made.
However, at the end of
the straight the cars must turn into the twisty
infield section, which has some very slow speed
corners. To tackle this effectively the cars will need
a lot of downforce to provide grip through the turns.
This provides the drivers and their engineers with the
task of finding the perfect compromise that allows top
speeds on the straight, but still provides enough
traction to let the drivers maximise their performance
through the infield.
Tyres will once again
prove all-important with Bridgestone providing two new
tyre compounds – Hard and Extra Hard – to cope
with heavy loads generated by the banking. The
Japanese manufacturer has also warned the teams not to
play around with their recommended tyre pressures,
otherwise accidents could occur if tyres fail.
Friday and Saturday
practice will be the only two times that drivers have
to assess the new circuit, and set their cars up for
qualifying and the race. Unlike at other well-known
tracks, these sessions are likely to be busy with a
scramble to be out on track for as long as possible.
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