What Does It Take For A Circuit To Be 'F1 Ready'?

yf1 can't just race at any track there are many race circuits in the world some incredible some terrible and some just not fit for formula one if you didn't know our glorious sport can't just rock up to any race track and send the cars out for our entertainment there are standards that need to be met when hosting an f1 race there's a long list of rules and procedures that a circuit needs to follow from having the necessary resources structures and maintenance to making sure it's over three and a half kilometers in length apart from if you're monaco and you get a free pass for being well monaco as the fia is responsible for many motor racing series they have categorized circuits from grades one to six grade one is needed to host an f1 race if you're a new circuit you'll need to submit a chunky document about all your plans to your country's national sporting authority which will hopefully approve it and pass it on to the fia after doing that the fia will charge a fee to inspect the circuit and do a project study and if they find anything they think needs to be changed they'll recommend it all this needs to be done in a time frame too so for a new grade one circuit the final inspection on a permanent track needs to be done at least 90 days before an official f1 weekend so what is inspected well firstly the actual layouts we already know that ovals are kind of a no-go but in terms of how you wish to organize the shape of the track you can do as you wish the fia might take a look at your plan and suggest practical changes or if they think a slight tweak could produce even better racing clearly they forgot to do this for such places as abu dhabi and russia however neither f1 fom or liberty media control the construction of a new circuit the maximum permitted length for a straight section of the track is two kilometers for the circuit itself there is also the recommendation that no new circuit should exceed seven kilometers existing tracks on the f1 calendar like the fan favorite spa franca shops measure 7.004 kilometers and is one of the best on the calendar so it's likely to be slightly flexible it's probably more a hint that the fia won't be approving another 25 kilometer long circuit that f1 raced on for the 1957 pescara grand prix there are also some other important rules to follow new permanent circuits should have a track width of at least 12 meters with changes to this being as gradual as possible the width of the starting grid also needs to be a minimum of 15 meters with this being maintained through to the exit of the first corner to help avoid any first lap pile ups in terms of the actual starting grid there are stricter rules yes it gets even stricter there should be at least eight meters between grid boxes for formula one with six meters needed for other series it's also preferred that there's at least 250 meters between the start and the first corner the gradient of the start finish straight should also not exceed two percent as for the first corner that can only be a change of direction of at least 45 degrees with a radius of less than 300 meters my gcse maths is really kicking in right now suppose a car does use the runoff in a crash or incident there are several safety rules and regulations that need to be in place to absorb a car's energy and or provide conditions for the driver to regain control of their vehicle this is all standard practice for a circuit as well as making sure that the protection of spectators race officials service personnel and the drivers is of utmost importance if you're hosting an event like f1 which sometimes can have an excess of 200 000 spectators in pre-pandemic times you need to make sure there's enough space to accommodate the fans in addition to the f1 circus itself for the medical center there's got to be a team of doctors present who are trained in resuscitation and at least two surgeons one who is experienced in concussion and spinal injuries and the other who knows how to treat burns there must be a good understanding of english as well as a fully stocked medical kit and all members of the medical team must be proficient in dealing with patients who have trauma capacity for timing rooms race control media centers and marshal posts all need to be considered too plus the actual paddock and pit lane the list honestly continues to go on even things like bridges and tunnels for trucks or emergency vehicles need to be visualized in the planning stages of the circuit creation same for drainage solutions as all of this can influence the layout of the track we're not kidding when we say that the list of recommendations and necessities goes on for ages of course when it comes to the health and safety of those on the ground everything must be taken extremely seriously as we all know how dangerous motorsport can be outside of the f1 calendar what circuits are still grade one i hear you ask well venues like estoril fuji speedway korea and new delhi all have grade one licences that last a year or two istanbul park and mizella were the same and as a result made appearances on the modified 2020 f1 calendar surprisingly circuits such as the circuit jill vilnerve in canada and the shanghai international circuit in china have both failed to renew their grade one licence there's no need to panic especially for me because i love the shanghai international circuit not only is the latest document almost six months old but it's also possible for circuits to renew their fia licenses if they wish to a license is typically valid for three years from the date of the circuit's final inspection there you have it a detailed look into what it takes for a race circuit to be f1 ready it's pretty complicated isn't it what do you make of all the rules let us know in the comment section below [Music]

Channel: WTF1

Views: 797,995

Keywords: wtf1, f1, grand prix, hamilton, vettel, ferrari, mercedes, highlights, formula 1, verstappen, red bull, f1 2020, albon, norris, leclerc, russell, formula one, gasly, lando, f1 circuit, grade 1 circuit, formula 1 circuit

Id: HQ_wI5EMEcA

Length: 5min 46sec (346 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 10 2021