08/09/2021
NEWS STORY
Ross Brawn believes that other circuits would do well to learn from the banked corners at Zandvoort.
Almost from the outset, other than the atmosphere, drivers enthused over the updated Zandvoort circuit, and in particular the banked corners.
"It's very exciting with the banking," said Sebastian Vettel. "It's not quite clear which line to take yet, but I've got a little bit more time tomorrow.
"We should have more of that, cambered corners that are positive, and not off camber," he added. "Off camber they do for water drainage, but it's very boring because you lose grip. Positive cambered corners look exciting and feel exciting in the car as well."
"Oh man, the track is epic," said Lewis Hamilton, "it's really fantastic", a view shared by his Mercedes teammate. "I hope it's good fun to watch, as it's definitely good fun in the car," said Valtteri Bottas. "Tomorrow will be fun in the qualifying and even today," he added, "I really enjoyed it, those banked corners.
While Turn 3, the infamous Tarzan has always been banked, as preparations began in order to fully update the track it was decided to have banking inthe final corners also.
"Charlie (Whiting) was the first one to suggest that we put banking in to make the last corner flat-out and effectively extend the length of the straight," F1 MD, Ross Brawn tells the F1 Nation podcast. "And once we got that thought in place and started to work on things, we realised that we could actually make some really good features, not only there but Turn 3 and some other areas.
"So Tarzan, which is the first corner at the end of the straight, was always banked and had some contour already, so it was following in the theme of that, and we're really chuffed because it worked remarkably well.
"The great thing was, the drivers loved it," he continued. "They were full of praise, they enjoyed it, and when you get a strong buzz from the drivers, it's infectious.
Asked if he would like to see more circuits consider the idea of banked corners, Brawn said: "We've introduced it in Saudi. Although Saudi is, to all intents and purposes, a street circuit that's going to be utilising the Corniche in Jeddah, there's quite a lot of unique circuit being built to tie it all together, and there's a lovely banked corner at the end of the circuit, which looks pretty impressive.
"And Abu Dhabi, the last third, or half, of the circuit, has all been modified for this year, and that will have some gently banked corners, although nothing quite as severe as Turn 3!
"We had some off-camber corners in Abu Dhabi, which I think were done with good intent, but the drivers never really enjoyed them," he admits, "so we've corrected that and put in some gentle banking. It always helps to pick up the speed and also seems to give different options as to how you take those corners, which is great."
Meanwhile, we're off to Monza... where if you really want to talk about banking...