Las Vegas GP adds 'Miami chicane' to circuit layout
@f1lasvegas
F1 News
- GPblog.com
From 2023, the United States will have three Grands Prix as Las Vegas makes its debut on the F1 calendar. The street circuit is brand new, but the first change to the layout is already in place.
The hated chicane in Miami
Formula 1 seems to be making another mistake when it comes to circuit design. In 2022, the F1 circus went to Miami for the first time, where a semi-street circuit was built in the Hard Rock Stadium car park. While the circuit itself is not necessarily bad, it does contain one section that is generally loathed by drivers and fans.
The chicane that forms the fourteenth and fifteenth corners together that continues into a sharp left-hand turn is possibly one of the worst corner combinations on the Formula 1 calendar, but necessary to ensure safety on the circuit. Las Vegas has received an update to its layout that looks a quite a lot like that corner combination in Miami.
Adjustment to Las Vegas street circuit
When the layout of the Las Vegas Grand Prix was presented, the sixth corner was a long run-through around the MSG Sphere. It could become one of the most exciting corners of the entire circuit, but this very corner has now been modified. On the Las Vegas GP official website background, the layout is in fact different from the one presented earlier.
The sixth corner now stops halfway through the original plan after which it continues into a tight chicane that now form turn seven and eight. Then, as in Miami, there is an sharp angled left-hand turn that will probably require the F1 cars to rebuild speed from second or third gear.
Necessary evil?
Why the change was made has not been officially announced, but it seems it is because of safety, just like in Miami. The corners that now form turn 10 and 11 (previously turn 7 and 8) are now a lot slower than before. There is little room for run off areas due to the buildings surrounding the circuit.
Dit bericht op Instagram bekijken