I was browsing some F1 news today and came across an article about Hamilton explaining what parts of real-world tracks his ideal "dream" track would be comprised of.

Read here: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12538_4576572,00.html

Basically it is 10 corner sections:

1. Turn 8, Istanbul Speed Park (5th gear, 260 kph, 5g)
2. Estoril, Magny Cours (5th gear, 200 kph, 3.5g)
3. 130R, Suzuka (6th gear, 295 kph, 4g)
4. Eau Rouge, Spa-Francorchamps (7th gear, 295 kph, 3.5g)
5. Tabac, Monaco (4th gear, 172 kph, 2.5g)
6. Turn 1, Suzuka (5th gear entry, 255 kph, 3.5g)
7. Pouhon, Spa-Francorchamps (6th gear, 260 kph, 4.5g)
8. Casino Square, Monaco (3rd gear, 130 kph, 2.5g)
9. Mergulho, Interlagos (4th gear, 175 kph, 3g)
10. Copse, Silverstone (7th gear, 290 kph, 4.5g)




He explains 10 of some of his favorite corners from a variety of circuits, but... it had me thinking... how do they all connect? As a fun experiment I decided to connect them all together as described.

I wonder if Hamilton has thought this through, or is this just a list of corners he loves? Still pretty funny. Especially the fact that he loves high G corners like the first 2... because we all know it takes a man like Lewis Hamilton to handle these extreme stresses on the driver.

Here is what I came up with:
(The missing track is a bit gray )

notice that he doesnt like anything under 3rd gear? only corners where downforce does the work for him.

Apparently the 'Supercircuit' he has created has been drawn up...

See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GupeqJEU-A and click on Supercircuit.

Just a Mobil Promo. He probably had nothing to do with it

Quote from Intrepid :

Just a Mobil Promo. He probably had nothing to do with it

Well yeah, after seeing that video it's obvious. I still don't know where they put Suzuka's Turn1 on on that Supercircuit, where the hell is it?

On their website they have a REALLY AWFUL animation of the track. The helmet movement is silly, the car looks all jerky, the track is barely wider than the car... It's just terrible.

But the track sounds like it would be fun to drive in a GP2 or faster car, though the racing would be awful.

Quote from tristancliffe :

On their website they have a REALLY AWFUL animation of the track. The helmet movement is silly, the car looks all jerky, the track is barely wider than the car... It's just terrible.

But the track sounds like it would be fun to drive in a GP2 or faster car, though the racing would be awful.

Did you see Eau Rouge on that video? LOL It looks like a chicane!

Don't know where this came from, was posted on other forums.

Quote from tristancliffe :

On their website they have a REALLY AWFUL animation of the track. The helmet movement is silly, the car looks all jerky, the track is barely wider than the car... It's just terrible.

It defies belief, they paid someone for that postman pat crap. I'd wager it's the same fools that did those crap ITV animations http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Koprlc1T4sw 4:13!

They obviously don't have the slightest interest in the subject matter.

Quote from robt :

notice that he doesnt like anything under 3rd gear? only corners where downforce does the work for him.

Yup. Complete lack of any technical sections too.

Quote from robt :

notice that he doesnt like anything under 3rd gear? only corners where downforce does the work for him.

downforce does not do work for the driver - it increases the limit but there is still a limit, and it's harder to recover the car when you are in a fast section.

Quote from gezmoor :

Yup. Complete lack of any technical sections too.

define "techincal sections"

those he named are all pretty good.

Quote from JJ72 :

define "techincal sections"

those he named are all pretty good.

Ones that require you to alter your throttle to avoid loosing grip or sharp turns of direction such as a chicane or where the car goes light over the brow of a hill or where braking is anything but slam on the brakes.

Read through the article linked and you'll see that most of his favourite sections have one thing in common. Pedal flat to the floor, high G Force corners that so long as you take the right line in pretty much require, (relatively), no seat of the pants feel or skill in keeping the car balanced on the limit or any quick direction changes etc. Not much there to upset the car or require any actions of the driver to keep it set.

I think his choice of sections is very informative to his attitude to what makes a "great" driver, (the immaturity of youth maybe? only speed and physical prowess count??), and also probably indicative of his own perception of himself and his own weaknesses.

Looks like an interesting version of westhill (with all the bland smooth corners replaced with fast bland real life corners)

The suzuka turn 1 is a joke. In real life it's an awesome tightening corner in real life, not that constant radius über-dullness what it is made to be in that pic. And what a strange place to put Eau rouge into!

They are all nice corners but the map just could be a lot better. Hmm *opens psp*

I love it when amatures or completly inexperianced drivers try to judge racing drivers talent, it really is a funny show to watch!

To those trying to suggest that Hamilton struggles with technical sections...
Ever thought he may just enjoy the corners he's suggested more than technical sections? I imagine the high G corners are quite exhilarating, perhaps he finds techincal sections boring in comparsion?

Quote from gezmoor :

Read through the article linked and you'll see that most of his favourite sections have one thing in common. Pedal flat to the floor, high G Force corners that so long as you take the right line in pretty much require, (relatively), no seat of the pants feel or skill in keeping the car balanced on the limit or any quick direction changes etc. Not much there to upset the car or require any actions of the driver to keep it set.

what?
Turn 8, Istanbul Speed Park - definitely not flat
Estoril, Magny Cours - not flat either, and it's a very hard corner to maintain a good apex speed.
130R, Suzuka - unfortunately it is flat now, but maybe not in 09 spec cars.
Eau Rouge, Spa-Francorchamps - same as above.
Tabac, Monaco -A real pin in a haystack type of corner
Turn 1, Suzuka - it's a great turn, a real commitment corner on how much speed you can carry from the straight.
Pouhon, Spa-Francorchamps - it's downhill and it falls away a bit, but i'll give you that.
Casino Square, Monaco - needed no description really?
Mergulho, Interlagos - the corner falls away from the driver and it is a balancing act, especially when wet.
Copse, Silverstone - again a precision corner like tabac.


A corner being fast doesn't make it easy in my opinion, at higher speed any tiny mistake, tiny bumps will be exggarated and you need lightling reflexes and a good sense of body balance to keep things under control. In an F1 car when everything happens so fast there are few corners in which they will find themselves modulating the balance mid corner.

and F1 cars are built for the fast stuff, it's not really surprising drivers prefer high speed on the edge corners over slow low grip turns, because it's at really high speeds that you can get the maximum from these cars, even gilles villenuve once said the hardest corner are the ones taken just tiny bit from being flat.

Quote from GFresh :

To those trying to suggest that Hamilton struggles with technical sections...
Ever thought he may just enjoy the corners he's suggested more than technical sections? I imagine the high G corners are quite exhilarating, perhaps he finds techincal sections boring in comparsion?

I'm sure that's true but it's a well understood psychological human trait to dislike those things you struggle with.

Quote :

I love it when amatures or completly inexperianced drivers try to judge racing drivers talent, it really is a funny show to watch!"

I find the Irony of that statement just as amusing, or should I be getting out my F1 scrap book to get your autograph?

I'm not trying to suggest that Hamilton isn't a supremely talented driver just find his choices of sections illuminating that's all.

Here's a poofessional version. Sorry for track being our of proportions, T8 of instabul being a bit borked and that interlagos corner being mirrored (turns wrong direction). Tried to keep the speeds and lines into and out from the corners close to real...

May I introduce. GP of Louis Haemitlon:

Turn 1 at suzuka leads into turn 2, you have to be turning whilst on the brakes, even in an F1 car.
Unless the first 2 corners are classed as 1, which would be gay.

Quote from BlueFlame :

Turn 1 at suzuka leads into turn 2, you have to be turning whilst on the brakes, even in an F1 car.
Unless the first 2 corners are classed as 1, which would be gay.

The first article/site I linked says it is one whole dual apex corner. But I am certain that it is 2 corners.

Quote from Tweaker :

The first article/site I linked says it is one whole dual apex corner. But I am certain that it is 2 corners.

Me to but who knows

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8RzWxOECZXM

It's clearly two corners but taken as one:
map coordinates for google maps: 34.844557, 136.531949
http://www.trackpedia.com/wiki/Suzuka

It makes the first corner totally different if you replace T2 with a straight because it changes the line and braking/accelerating there. A bit like T1/T2 of westhill rev... I really really liked the T1/T2 in GT4, the way you need to brake&slide into T1 and accelerating and sliding out of T2, especially in a GT car it was just great corner, defenately one of the nicest corners I've driven in a si... Gran turismo
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SukBpzVt1JI

Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure Hamilton has never even driven at Suzuka anyway!

Quote from count.bazley :

Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure Hamilton has never even driven at Suzuka anyway!

Infact.... GP2 2006 I think he did.