The Abu Dhabi GP changes that have been introduced will reduce lap times by “10 to 15 seconds.”
There have been revisions made to the Yas Marina Circuit, which will host the final race of the F1 calendar. The circuit’s redevelopment work is almost complete, and is almost ready to be unveiled for racing in December.
FIA Race Director Michael Masi is set to inspect the track soon. Of particular importance are the Abu Dhabi GP changes that will reduce lap times by “10 to 15 seconds.”
Three areas of the track, which cover more than 50% of the corners, have been revamped. These corners have either been eased, or have been replaced by quicker ones. This is the first time in the circuit’s history that changes are being introduced.
The new layout has had five corners cut from the 21 the circuit boasts, and its length has reduced by 273 meters. Accordingly, the race distance has been increased by three laps, from 55 to 58.
Fine-tuning
The changes were designed by Driven International, and were implemented with the co-operation of MRK 1 Consulting. Driven International Managing Director Ben Willshire said that that the new Yas Marina layout will be “around 10 to 15 seconds – depending what set-up and DRS – quicker.”
Max Verstappen’s pole position lap time at the 2020 Abu Dhabi GP was 1:35.246. This time is almost five-tenths off the record set by Lewis Hamilton in 2019, which was a 1:34.779.
The changes to the track are replacements for Turn 4, 5 and 6, where a single and faster corner has replaced them. The set of slow bends from Turn 11-14 has been replaced with a single fast left-hander. Finally, the entire section from Turn 17 to 20 has been eased.
MRK 1 Managing Director Mark Hughes said, “We did our own in-house simulations which were then also replicated by Formula 1 using their sim technology and it was reassuring to see that they were incredibly similar.
“We’ve got less slow corners as well as the shorter lap distance. But it also means it adds three laps to the race distance, so it’s better for the spectators as well.”
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