Overtaking will not be a problem at the new Miami International Autodrome which will hold this weekend’s race, Formula 1 drivers believe.
The first practice sessions for the Miami Grand Prix will take place today. Pierre Gasly, who has already logged around 130 laps of the 5.4-kilometre course on AlphaTauri’s simulator, is already confident it will produce good racing.
“It looks amazing,” he said. “To me it looks really fast. Two very long straight lines, which is great because that means there is going to be a lot of overtaking.
“Very high speed section [in the] first sector. There is a super, super-tight second sector under the bridge before the back straight. Very different type of corners. It looks fast so I’m excited for it.”
Gallery: Miami Grand Prix Thursday in picturesThe two long straights will force teams to run low-downforce set-ups, says Gasly, which will make the high-speed corners at the beginning of the lap “quite tough.”
Based on his runs in the simulator Gasly expects those corners to be the most demanding part of the circuit.
“From turn four, five, six, seven it’s really high speed,” he said. “That turn seven is a never-ending left corner, you can’t see the exit, it is just very extremely long. The tyres are feeling it as well there quite a lot.”
Kevin Magnussen echoed Gasly’s comments on that part of the circuit, pointing out the corner is especially important as it leads to a significant overtaking opportunity.
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“It’s a very long straight after that corner,” said Magnussen. “And it’s weird braking into that.
“So you’ve got to try and find the right line there which I don’t think is straightforward. So it does look like an interesting track.”
Track data: Miami International AutodromeThe track also features a much slower and narrower section towards the end of the lap where barriers have been positioned to spoil drivers’ sight lines and act as…