F1 Turkey Grand Prix: What is the fuss about Istanbul Park?

Istanbul Park

Wake up- This is not Monaco! Istanbul Park track may be poor on generating revenue but it is amongst the most challenging tracks for F1 engineers.

The street circuit at Monaco demands the F1 engines to focus on low end performance, whereas Turkey requires extreme power delivery from the low end RPM range to the top rev band for maximum power output. Just 1 lap on this circuit means 42 gear changes. To add to this, Istanbul circuit has 46m of elevation changes over the 5.4 km lap and therefore the engine goes through even more stress with barometric changes.

Istanbul Park is an anti-clockwise track! So drivers will be forced to acclimatize to the extra strain on the left-hand side of their neck, don’t be surprised to see extra padding on the left side of the head rest.

Here comes the best part – Tires will win this race and you can take my word for it!

Drivers will use the soft and hard compounds in this race, the same which were used last year i.e. hard (prime, no marking) & soft (option, green markings).

Turn 8 is infamously known as the TIRE KILLER! Why? Because it is a double apex 180 degree corner and probably the most challenging corner of any race track on the Formula One 2010 calendar. Therefore, load on both the front tires will be extreme & front wing aero set up is critical to provide good front-end stability.

The drivers experience an average lateral G force of 4.3 G up to a maximum of 5.2 G. Imagine experiencing such gravitational forces 58 times during the race for 8 seconds on each lap. Turning in, cornering & exiting from turn 8 requires full 8 seconds and in that time the car travels 600 meters with a top speed of 270 km/h.

However, this is not the only part of the track which is a challenge. The turns 12-14 are the lowest speed areas of the track with a left-right-left combination and come straight after the highest-speed straight, biggest tire graining will happen here.

The engine would be running at very high speed as the drivers negotiate turn 8, but they will equally need excellent traction while exiting turn 12… super important if you are on the defense. If the car behind you has a tow following you from turn 10 and makes it stick better, he will take you from the inside into Turn 12 or Turn 13 – those two corners are where overtaking most happens.

Commercial aspect: The high price tickets & low spectator at Turkey is not an issue anymore for Formula One Management, Mark Webber resolved it. “Just open the gates”, he said!