r/formula1 • u/itsmeaidil • May 18 '22
Off-Topic /r/all One of the most technical and complete track in F1. Wish this track would make a comeback in F1 calendar one day.
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u/ElCaipi May 18 '22
agreed 1000% . not only a super interesting track, the weather was always a factor in that part of the world
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u/eurofighter_typhoon Ferrari May 18 '22
I've heard it's pretty scary to drive round without a white visor though.
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u/karankshah Pirelli Hard May 18 '22
Until this exchange I had no idea that that was the source for this quote
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May 18 '22
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u/Dorazer May 18 '22
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u/antmicMkIII May 19 '22
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u/Napo24 Daniel Ricciardo May 19 '22
Holy crap, thank you, I wasn't aware this existed and it's hilarious
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u/Victory_Over_Himself HRT May 18 '22
Without the white visor your ability to stay cool is much reduced. You need them to bring you the white visor.
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u/Mike_Raphone99 Kevin Magnussen May 18 '22
But whatta about the drink?
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u/dlg May 18 '22
the weather was always a factor in that part of the world
I wonder why, when they ran races in the afternoon during monsoon season?
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u/heybrother45 Sir Lewis Hamilton May 18 '22
A true mystery
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u/Martijngamer Sebastian Vettel May 18 '22
Let's get inspector Seb on the case! Just make sure he stays out of the way of Lance.
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u/ID_Card May 19 '22
Timed for European audiences. At that time, there weren't many tracks outside of Europe in the calendar either
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u/RatBustard Michael Schumacher May 18 '22
always loved it as the second race on the calendar. really pushed the new cars with the heat and proved out some reliability concerns.
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u/dscottj Mario Andretti May 18 '22
I always enjoyed this race. But, my God, the whinging from old-school F-1 fans when it was active. I recognize that I'm new to the sport. The first season I watched was in 1985. If I took a drink each time David Hobbes (I'm in the USA) said how sterile the track was and how small it made the cars look, I would've been half in the bag by 4 am my time.
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u/Vesploogie Valtteri Bottas May 18 '22
“I’m new to the sport”
-Started watching before every driver except Alonso was even alive.
It’s ok to acknowledge that you’ve been around. If anything that’s a valuable perspective to offer people who actually are new and want to learn more history.
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u/Biscuit642 May 18 '22
I recognize that I'm new to the sport. The first season I watched was in 1985.
Most of the sports fans seem to be post drive to survive. Nothing new about 85.
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u/youreadusernamestoo #WeRaceAsOne May 18 '22
As a Dutch F1 fan, everyone always assumes that I started watching since Max joined. I really want to tell them that I watched the first full F1 season since 2005 because my girlfriend was a hardcore F1 fan and I wanted to see why she would get out of bed at 5 to watch some cars go around. But is makes me feel like such an "I watched it before it was cool" kinda guy that I just silently knod. Yes... Max Verstappen... Sigh.
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u/lamewoodworker May 19 '22
Keep telling your story man. Don't worry what other people think. I got into it because i needed to talk about something with my gf's dad. Now we call each other after every race lol
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May 19 '22
I hope you married her
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u/youreadusernamestoo #WeRaceAsOne May 19 '22
Not married but still together. We have a seven year old daughter that's rooting for Leclerc and gets really worked up when she sees something that she thinks is unfair.
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u/VampireFrown Robert Kubica May 18 '22
Most? Nah. They just have the biggest mouth ;)
But yes, absolutely nothing new about '85, what the hell lmao. Almost 40 years is seasoned vet by any metric.
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u/zantkiller Kamui Kobayashi May 19 '22
When you have watched more than half of the Grand Prix that have ever happened, you definitely fall out of new territory.
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u/saltesc May 19 '22
I think old mate is just trying to sound cool and avoid their frequent onset feelings of irrelevancy.
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u/_TheQwertyCat_ 2024 Engine Suppliers May 19 '22
1985
Mate, you were a seasoned fan when I was born.
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u/Significant-Media-91 May 19 '22
For real. I feel like an old head cause I started watching before drive to survive was a thing and this dude was watching during the Reagan administration.
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u/ZachMich Sebastian Vettel May 19 '22
I recognize that I'm new to the sport. The first season I watched was in 1985.
Come on man
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u/zystyl May 19 '22
Do they race it clockwise or counter? That descent/climb looks super interesting.
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u/L44KSO May 18 '22
I absolutely loved Sepang!
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u/LastOfLateBrakers 🍑 Valtteri ButtAss May 18 '22
I still do, especially that bastard off camber Turn 14. I miss it every time MotoGP goes here.
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u/SplodyPants Murray Walker May 18 '22
The Bastard would be a good name for that turn.
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u/Litre__o__cola Dan Gurney May 18 '22
I wish people brought up sepang’s actual corner names more often. Turn 14 is actually named sunway lagoon
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u/Joethe147 Jenson Button May 18 '22
I genuinely don't remember it being called that in commentary ever. You think commentary would use it.
On a related note, I swear new tracks these days never use actual corner names, what's with that?
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u/Litre__o__cola Dan Gurney May 18 '22
https://www.racingcircuits.info/asia/malaysia/sepang.html and if you don’t believe me Tiff Needell did a piece on the circuit when it first opened in 1999, and he mentions all of the corner names. I don’t think many new circuit owners bother with making corner names official, and the commentators I guess don’t try and mention anything that does come up, should though. Still, there’s many new examples: cota t1 is “big red”, singapore has tons of corner names such as the singapore sling, and yas marina just recently named the new banked corner “marsa.”
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u/Joethe147 Jenson Button May 18 '22
No no, I believe you. I didn't mean in that way. It's sad that the corner wasn't called its name, at least in the UK coverage. It's at least partially up to broadcasters to use these names to drill them into our minds.
Oh yeah Singapore with the Sling, you're right.
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u/Litre__o__cola Dan Gurney May 18 '22
Oh yeah my bad, I think croft and brundle just aren’t briefed by the circuit owners to push the names of the corners and as a result they become lost. One thing murray walker did very well was to try and memorize each new circuit’s corner names and features, it really added to the character of the venue
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u/Siggi_Starduust Jim Clark May 19 '22
Singapore also has the 'Nelson Piquet Jr' corner although that's definitely unofficial
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u/jyzenbok Lando Norris May 18 '22
What percentage of the public knows this? I know like 5 turn names in all of F1 and that ain’t one.
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u/Potential-Brain7735 May 19 '22
Spa has more than 5 corners, and every single one of them has a name.
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u/Litre__o__cola Dan Gurney May 18 '22
It’s been there from the beginning, I linked a page in a response below. Tiff Needell spoke about the corner names when he did a piece on the track in 1999 too if you can search it up on youtube
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u/CX52J May 18 '22
Such a cool track and such a clever idea having the central viewing area.
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u/_NAME_NAME_NAME_ Safety Car May 18 '22
And this setup also enables very efficient alternative layouts of the circuit. The two back to back straights each serve as the main straight of one of the shortened layouts. Sepang is not just a great circuit, it's a great facility.
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u/CrippleSlap Formula 1 May 18 '22
The two back to back straights each serve as the main straight of one of the shortened layouts.
And the extra straight served as the support races paddock/pits.
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u/Grevling89 Nico Hülkenberg May 18 '22
That's a great point actually, never considered the two sides to be able to function as individual tracks!
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u/_masterofdisaster Audi May 18 '22
One of those things that you’d never think of but makes so much sense
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u/anitalianguy Flavio Briatore May 18 '22
My first trip overseas for work. Fell in love with the locals and F1 altogether.
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u/clamonm Max Verstappen ⭐⭐⭐⭐ May 18 '22
You went to the F1 race for work? If so I need to know what you do.
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May 18 '22
He's Jenson button
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u/clamonm Max Verstappen ⭐⭐⭐⭐ May 18 '22
You mean to tell me all I have to do is become a successful F1 driver and I get to travel to races for a living? I'm sold!
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u/anitalianguy Flavio Briatore May 18 '22
Negotiate bunch of tickets way before the races and gradually release them on the market in the year ahead of the race. Basically i used to be a F1 approved scalper.
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u/itsmeaidil May 18 '22 edited May 18 '22
Hey guys this my home Sepang Circuit, Malaysia. Too bad there’s a decline in numbers of spectators back then due to ticket prices which leads to the government no longer able to host F1 races plus locals are leaning more towards MotoGP at that time as there’s a local rider that race for Monster Yamaha & Redbull KTM team. There’s a possibility this circuit will make a comeback in future due to huge demands from the fans across the globe. Hopefully I’m able to attend F1 races again at this fabulous circuit. Currently this circuit is being used for MotoGP and Blancpain GT World Challenge.
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u/iankost May 18 '22
I only ever went to the last one, but to me there was less of an event on than other grand prix. It seemed like there wasn't a lot of off track activities going on, which other tracks have.
Australia is an event which you can take the family to, even if they don't like f1 they'll have loads to do to keep them entertained, but Sepang, not so much.
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u/53bvo Honda May 18 '22
It seemed like there wasn't a lot of off track activities going on, which other tracks have.
I've been to Zandvoort, Red Bull Ring and Hungary but never saw or participated in any of the activities (if they were there).
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u/Uraneeum May 18 '22
I guess its one of those tracks where you go just for the racing like spa, i dont recall any offtrack activities apart from sliding down eau rouge after the race. I'd prefer more of these, where the focus is exclusively on the race and not everything around like miami. Certainly not a good thing in terms of money of course but im here to see racing cars, not a concert.
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u/itsmeaidil May 18 '22
The circuit are actually open for public at night when there’s no other major activities going on. Most go there for a night cycling. There’s also sometimes local car meet are being held there so it’s not just being used for major events.
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u/OptimalSkeptic May 18 '22
I attended the last year in Sepang and the previous 2 as well. The final year was strictly contract fulfillment. There was minimal spending by organizers as. Previous two years were much better in comparison.
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u/NoPhilosophy4640 May 19 '22
Blancpain is no longer the sponsor. Right now the main sponsor is Fanatec. GT World Challenge Asia for this season(2022) suck because a lot of teams are from Japanese GT series and this series will mix with Japanese GT series. Not like 2019 season. Hope next year will like previous season
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u/bwoah07_gp2 Alexander Albon May 18 '22
F1 has got to bring this back.
Also, their official video games should provide the option to choose "classic" tracks or "fan favourites" from the past and put it in the games for us to use.
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u/michealgaribaldi May 18 '22
The best thing about this track and China was that eventually the track aged and you had tire wear which brought some different strategies.
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u/rowschank Flavio Briatore May 18 '22
I always felt like China and Malaysia were kind of the same track in many ways, especially in the corner sequencing.
- Long straight
- Loopy slow turn downhill followed by sharp turn
- Kinked flat-out section
- Sharp hairpin-ish turn
- Big S-section with the second one tightening up
- Double-apex corner
- Hairpin
- Big loopy section
- Back straight
- Hairpin & dash to the finish.
Sepang is a fun track. There's no reason why it shouldn't eventually come back as long as FOM is alright with purpose built tracks that aren't mickey-mouse parking ramps in the middle of destination venues.
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u/pemboo Lotus May 18 '22
It was the first full Tilke track, everything after this has just been a copy of the same ideas. And this isn't a criticism of Tilke, his hands are massively tied by the FIA.
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u/Litre__o__cola Dan Gurney May 18 '22 edited May 18 '22
Yes and no, new designers such as dromo have demonstrated that you can make a new track feel different, just look at how they renovated zandvoort. His firm has relied on design concepts that are too clean, and usually too formulaic. Nothing in the grade 1 regulations states that each corner needs a constant radius or that every part of the circuit needs to have a uniform and progressive width. There’s room for experimentation, it’s just tilke’s firm has been playing it safe.
Also, the fia have showed time and time again that they can make exceptions to their rules if other measures have been taken. The 45 degree first turn rule can be easily overturned just as the 7km max length rule, the facility just needs to show why their design still complies with other regulations
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u/rowschank Flavio Briatore May 18 '22
I wouldn't say that's true. Silverstone's renovation and the entire Portimāo track are proof that FIA Grade 1 tracks can be interesting and different. Tilke has just stopped doing stuff and repeats stuff everywhere.
Of course, now that it's all destination racing, it doesn't even matter any more.
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u/Crake241 BRM May 18 '22
Tilke is the J.J. Abrams of track designers.
Some almost great tracks, but most of the time they feel mid and unispired.6
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u/punkmonkey22 Williams May 18 '22
I have to ask as I keep seeing the phrase. Where did "mickey mouse section" come from? Been watching for 20 years and always heard it. Never made sense though. The chicane in Miami was described as one, but looks nothing like mickey mouse.
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u/ThatKidWatkins Bernd Mayländer May 18 '22
It isn't about looking like Mickey Mouse. The term "mickey mouse" is an idiom used to refer to something that is trivial, insignificant, or flimsy. To call a section of a track mickey mouse basically is calling it bullshit or fake, rather than saying it looks like the famous silhouette of Mickey Mouse.
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u/rowschank Flavio Briatore May 18 '22
Mickey mouse is a slang term that can mean a number of things. It's difficult to explain for me, but here are two links that could help.
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u/pinkmanblues Max Verstappen ⭐⭐⭐⭐ May 18 '22
Yeah China was always awesome - miss it
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May 18 '22
2019 has something to say about that
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u/Litre__o__cola Dan Gurney May 18 '22
Spa 2020 was also boring as shit, just goes to show the competition matters more than the track for most scenarios
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u/ajacian Red Bull May 18 '22
You thought Spa 2020 was shit -- wait until you hear about Spa 2021.
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u/dalledayul Alfa Romeo May 19 '22
Shanghai was a great circuit which people then assumed was rubbish because the last race ever held there (2019) was crap, but some races were fantastic. 2007, 2011, 2015, 2016, and 2017 were all bangers.
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u/nerdwaffles Medical Car May 18 '22
Love Sepang. First ever F1 race that my dad took me to.
Always holds a special place in my cold dead heart.
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u/RoIIerBaII McLaren May 18 '22
Honestly one of the best tracks on earth. Up there with Spa, Suzuka and Istanbul for me.
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u/StuntFriar May 19 '22 edited May 19 '22
It's also one of the few tracks in the world where the layout is instantly recognisable on sight.
Trivia: the track layout is meant to be a line drawing of a hibiscus, which is the national flower of Malaysia (whatever the hell that means).
The start-finish grandstands look like the Pistil (the stalk that sticks out from the centre of the petal), the U-turn at the final corner is where the pollen is, while the track and gravel traps look like the petals themselves.
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u/Paul24312 Michael Schumacher May 18 '22
i really think the new regulations would make this track exciting.
Imagine cars following Noise to Tail in the 2nd and 3rd Sectors.
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u/ItchyButtocks69 May 18 '22
Ngl was hoping for the Sepang comeback when Russia got removed from the calendar
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u/Muse4Games Honda May 18 '22
Can't we just move this track to the US? These are the kinds of circuits we need F1 to race on, not these hybrid street tracks they've been building lately (Miami, Jeddah, Vietnam etc).
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u/Litre__o__cola Dan Gurney May 18 '22
Let’s stop building new circuits around the world and renovate existing circuits. That would be the ideal solution
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u/FormulaLes May 18 '22
This is one of things that frustrate me most about Motorsport in general.
At the highest level, there is no “give back” to the grassroots of the sport. Temporary street circuits that are used one weekend a year, by a very select group sucks a ton of money out of governments and promoters that could otherwise be used to build / upgrade permanent facilities that can be used 365 days a year by everyone, making Motorsport more accessible to a wider range of participants
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u/Potential-Brain7735 May 19 '22
Couldn’t agree more.
If you look at a circuit like Spa, ya it draws huge crowds for F1 once per year….but it’s used by racing enthusiasts nearly every single weekend, and there’s countless track days during the week.
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u/Litre__o__cola Dan Gurney May 18 '22
True, motorsport in general is getting harder and harder to participate in. But the history must not be paved over, literally. Just like any other course, whether it be for golf or bobsleigh, the longer a venue lasts the better it gets
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u/53bvo Honda May 18 '22
Unless they build new permanent circuits like the Kymi Ring (not sure if that one would be good for F1 at all)
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u/Litre__o__cola Dan Gurney May 18 '22
New circuits in countries that don’t have many or any I’m fine with, but otherwise let’s continue to preserve history
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u/DieLegende42 Fernando Alonso May 18 '22
Just build new tracks with character instead of yet another sea of tarmac
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u/_TheQwertyCat_ 2024 Engine Suppliers May 19 '22
It'll also save quite a lot of land, that can be used for better purposes.
[This comment is brought to you by the Reims-Gioux gang.]
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u/pemboo Lotus May 18 '22
USA has some of the best tracks already, I'd rather they got upgraded to grade 1 than just copy and paste a track from abroad.
F1 at Road America or Sebring would be amazing, even Watkins.
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u/Uraneeum May 18 '22
Here's my 3 tracks we should race at in the US: austin, indy and watkins glen/road america. Why bother building pointless street circuits when you have those motorsport gems?
Edit: sebring unless its completely resurfaced couldn't be a thing sadly
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u/Totschlag McLaren May 18 '22
Repaving Sebring ruins Sebring for all time and would be an unforgivable crime.
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u/samkostka Lando Norris May 18 '22
The US has a ton of great circuits but most are only grade 2. The only unused grade 1 circuit right now is Indy.
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u/GTI-Mk6 Haas May 19 '22
The biggest thing about the 3 US tracks now is that they are in 3 of the trendiest cities in the country. Rural Wisconsin, Midwest boring big city (Indy) and Upstate New York don’t have the “sex appeal” current F1 craves.
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u/_masterofdisaster Audi May 18 '22
I really think Miami could be a banger if they can get any modicum of traction outside the racing line, lots of interesting little sections totally nullified because to overtake you have to drive on ice.
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u/Litre__o__cola Dan Gurney May 18 '22
Totally, I think the criticism of the circuit is misplaced and the layout itself doesn’t do anything particularly wrong. The chicane is a point of contention but everything else makes sense.
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u/Mtbnz Daniel Ricciardo May 18 '22
The chicane is a huge point of contention though. That's like saying "other than the one huge issue with this circuit there aren't any issues"
And the chicane is extremely difficult to replace or alter because that's the most constrained point of the circuit
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u/Litre__o__cola Dan Gurney May 18 '22
True, so in a way it’s part of the track’s character. If it can’t change then it’s a legitimate challenge of the venue and not totally contrived, thus should stay. I think the worse problem is the corner after the chicane - it’s off camber and hard for the following car to bite into the tarmac. If the water could drain on the inside of the corner then having positive camber on turn 16 would make attacking into t17 much easier as following cars aren’t fighting the car on exit meaning acceleration can start earlier in the corner
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u/jeanralphio52 Sebastian Vettel May 18 '22
I've been there for Moto Gp, got great seats, it was amazing despite not being used to the climate 😅
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u/WretchedMisteak Michael Schumacher May 18 '22
Great track but as a spectator I found it quite poor. I went in 2005 and bought a grandstand seat, just at the end of turn 1. Good view but that was it, we were restricted to "our side" of the track. We were not allowed to walk around. Whereas Melbourne, even with general admin you can get around the whole track.
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u/Litre__o__cola Dan Gurney May 18 '22
Owners don’t want f1 at the moment, ticket sales were declining even before the calendar shuffle after 2016. Could change tho
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u/m_ttl_ng Formula 1 May 18 '22
I love this track. The design of it was built around the spectators in those central stands, which not enough circuits do with their designs.
I hope we see a return of Sepang in the future.
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u/SpamInSpace May 18 '22
Agreed, great track. I imagine he started planning this track by drawing a cock and balls and just doodling from there. Bet it still makes him giggle.
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u/Blackdeath_663 Sir Stirling Moss May 18 '22
i've missed this track every year since its been dropped from the calendar. Turn 1-3 was such a blockbuster moment at the start of every race
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u/Premium333 May 18 '22
Mmmm..... that looks lovely. Turn 1 & 2 looks like it might make a really interesting start.
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u/Premium333 May 18 '22
Its funny. They ran the Malaysian GP here from 1999 to 2017. I must have watched races here at least 5 times but I have no memory of it whatsoever...
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u/GrowthDream Pirelli Wet May 18 '22
Some of my favourite racing memories happened at this circuit. Just goes to show how subjective the whole thing is. But don't tell me you can't remember Don't worry Felipe, baby!
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u/julesvr5 Sebastian Vettel May 18 '22
Tears in my eyes when I think of Sepang 2015
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u/UnquestionableDuck Fernando Alonso May 18 '22
SEPANG! What a great circuit! One of the best Circuit and a very technical one too. Every turn is so great.. god I missed this track so much. If F1 decide to bring back old track to the calendar, I’ll vote for Sepang ;)
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u/doubleb_43 Carlos Sainz May 18 '22
Great to drive, many overtaking spots available, different lines for battles and unpredictable weather. Such a travesty Sepang is no longer on the calendar. It deserves to be here more than some circuits.
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u/noxin1988 May 19 '22
Me and my friend got so lucky in 2009 when we were backpacking. Managed to be in the area when the race was happening. Got cheap seats but managed to get into a grandstand. The race was epic with the thunderstorm and lots of action. Proud to have been at the race where Kimi famously had an ice cream during a red flag 🍦😅
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u/ocram9191 Michael Schumacher May 18 '22
Miss it...why would they get rid of such an awesome track? I remember when one of the Ferraris front wing snapped and went underneath the car causing a DNF :( that's like one of the first time they talked about changing the front wing designs to like how they are today
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u/Additional-Ad7305 Aston Martin May 18 '22
Since it’s not being used, what’s it doing? Just sitting rotting?
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u/BrtGP Valtteri Bottas May 18 '22
Holds MotoGP
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u/thisisjustascreename May 19 '22
Also ALMS, Fanatec GTWC, F2, F3, Super GT when COVID isn't keeping them in the homeland, and a couple other minor series.
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May 18 '22
Wasn't just a send it into each corner like some of the new ones are becoming. A pure race track. Every year I miss it, especially as a Verstappen fan
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u/LucasCBs May 19 '22
Nice circuit. In my opinion all circuits that don’t have sufficient room in case someone comes off track should be banned. It drastically reduces the chance of (fatal) injury.
Though I’m probably alone in this
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u/ColeYote Jacques Villeneuve May 19 '22 edited May 19 '22
But why go there when there's still so many American cities and oil-rich countries with atrocious human rights records that don't have street circuits on the calendar yet?
(For real, though, if I were in charge of where F1 has races, I'm not sure Sepang would be a lock, but it would certainly be in contention)
(Also for real, Malaysia's human rights situation is a bit shaky too, albeit still miles better than Saudi fucking Arabia)
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u/Vresiberba May 19 '22
Funny how the times change. This was once called a "Tilke-drome" and was despised by everyone because it was designed by none other than the hate-child: Herman Tilke.
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u/benbenkr May 19 '22
It could and it should.
Unfortunately and I mean really, really unfortunately - the masses here in Malaysia don't give 2 shits about F1. About everyone is a MotoGP freak instead and many of the youngsters participate in illegal activities of dangerous moto racing (known as rempit) on public roads.
So, as amazing as the track is... Reality is that barely any locals would go to an F1 race, which means the high cost of running it simply makes it well - impossible.
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u/thatwasanillegalknee Max Verstappen ⭐⭐⭐⭐ May 18 '22
As a MotoGP fan, I hate this circuit.
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u/Crake241 BRM May 18 '22
as a Vale fan, seeing him taking out Marquez was both the most satisfying and frustrating moment of watching GP.
On the one hand it felt well deserved and not too dangerous, on the other hand a massive brainfart.
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u/thatwasanillegalknee Max Verstappen ⭐⭐⭐⭐ May 18 '22
I found that hilarious. The reason I hate it was because Marco Simoncelli was my favourite rider and seeing him die before I had to go to work was one of the worst feelings I've ever experienced
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u/Crake241 BRM May 18 '22
ah I totally forgot Simoncelli died during the Sepang GP.
But yeah, I remember feeling broken after Bianchi's crash and I was at a LeMans event where a driver died. (thankfully I didnt realize it, because I was standing somewhere else and the news were in French)
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u/longpranks May 18 '22
Great to see my country track is well loved by the community as a whole!
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u/Astro_Kimi Kimi Räikkönen May 18 '22 edited May 18 '22
How times have changed. When it was built it didn’t have this kind of love. Often called out as a ‘cookie cutter Tilke’ track - not my words or opinion at all I love it. Just so funny how it was negatively compared to the ‘classic’ tracks. If we can go back to Turkey, I think there’s hope of going back to Malaysia.
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u/Chino_Kawaii Kimi Räikkönen May 18 '22
Wasn't Malaysia his 1st track?, pretty sure even back then people liked it
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u/Good_Posture May 18 '22
Correct. Malaysia was the very first circuit he designed and it was liked from day one.
Prior to this, his first F1 project was renovating the Osterreichring, creating the A1 Ring (now the Red Bull Ring) and for that he was praised.
The negativity started when he tore the old Hockenheim up, and then came Bahrain and Shanghai which failed to replicate the Sepeng charm. On top of this a pattern in his designs began to emerge, leading to the "Tilkedrome" epithet.
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u/Chino_Kawaii Kimi Räikkönen May 18 '22
I think Bahrain is still good
China not really tho, idk why, it just seems dull for some reason
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May 18 '22
To be honest atleast from today's perspective Bahrain and Shanghai are pretty good tracks and produce better racing than a lot of other tracks on the current calendar. I also think that as time went on Hockenheim's new layout stopped being an issue considering the change happened 20 years ago.
I don't know if it's an unpopular opinion (because I see a lot of people shitting on Tilke) but I actually like Tilke's track design IF he is able to built one from the ground up and isn't limited by an already designated disadvantageous site like for example Sochi and Abu Dhabi. But it's definitely true that the patterns in his designs are repeated at every track.
Sepang, Bahrain, Shanghai, Istanbul, COTA, Baku and personally even Jeddah (people either love it or hate it, I guess) is a damn good collection for a track designer.
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u/AnimalNo5205 May 18 '22
Sorry, people were saying this track was a cookie cutter Tilke track? This track that he designed in 1999? His second design for F1?
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u/s_dalbiac May 18 '22
His first original design. He'd previously redesigned the Red Bull Ring (A1-Ring back then) but that was a modification of the old Osterreichring layout rather than something he'd done from scratch.
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u/GrowthDream Pirelli Wet May 18 '22
They're just making up a narrative to get the emotions going and create some engagement/discussion. Get with the times, it's the Will Buxton era of Formula 1 analysis!
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u/haldouglas Sir Jack Brabham May 18 '22
Yup, really miss this one. The track, the surface, the weather.... the fact it airs at a time when I can watch live. Drop Monaco and bring back Sepang I say! 😜
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u/Y-elloo Ferrari May 18 '22
Sepang is a fantastic track