2011 Formula 1 Korean Grand Prix (Yeongam)

[bpratt]

Information sourced from here, there and everywhere. Enjoy!

2011 Formula 1 Korean Grand Prix (Yeongam)

The Track and Race details

First used 2010

Korean International Circuit
Circuit Length:    5.615 km (3.489 miles)
Race Length:    55 laps (308.8 km, 191.9 miles)
Details:    Semi-permanent road course
Anti-clockwise
Corners:    17 (6 right-hand and
11 left-hand corners)
Lap Record:    1:50.257 F. Alonso 2010
Official Website:    www.koreangp.kr
Top speed:    311 km/h (193 mph)
Average speed:    195 km/h (121 mph)
Gear changes per lap:    52
Time at full-throttle:    55%
Time under braking:    20%
Fuel effect:    0.06 s per lap of fuel
Fuel consumption:    2.3 kg per 5 km
Tyre allocation:    Soft / Supersoft
Engine demand:    High
Tyre wear:    Medium
Brake demand:    High
Downforce level:    Medium/High






2010 Qualifying




2010 Race results




F1 TIMETABLE (Brisbane Times)

Friday 14 October 2011
Practice 1    11:00 - 12:30
Practice 2    15:00 - 16:30
Saturday 15 October 2011
Practice 3    12:00 - 13:00
Qualifying    15:00
Sunday 16 October 2011
Race    16:00


Korea is the latest country to join the Formula One fold with a spectacular, waterside venue. There has been some criticism of the remote, rural location although that in itself will set the circuit apart from the busy, metropolis locations of the majority of its Far Eastern counterparts. Built on 425 acres of reclaimed land beside an artificial seaside lake, the anti-clockwise track will feature Asia's longest straight, allowing for speeds of up to 311 km/h (193 mph).

New circuits bring some of the biggest challenges to the drivers and teams alike and the combination of the Hermann Tilke designed Korean International Circuit's twisting outfield and a 1.2 km straight should give the teams a few headaches when it comes to set-up.


The Korea Auto Valley Operation (KAVO) said this year's race weekend from October 14-16 would be "far more entertaining... and more satisfactory."

"Many of our managerial shortcomings were exposed regarding issues in parking, transportation and accommodation," it said in a statement.

KAVO, a joint venture between private firm M-Bridge Holdings and the South Jeolla provincial government, came under fire for delayed work and sloppy marketing and operations after the inaugural event.

The track in the southwestern county of Yeongam was completed only two weeks before the race and organisers were forced to give away thousands of free tickets and to discount others to help fill seats.

Apart from in the grandstands, organisers were unable to finish construction of permanent seating areas on time.

The controversy led to a state probe and the dismissal of the KAVO head and several other executives in January.

KAVO said it had worked especially hard to tackle the lack of upscale accommodation and crippling traffic gridlock during the event - which sparked complaints from many of last year's 170,000 visitors.

It said it had secured 20 percent more accommodation than the forecast number of visitors - 69,000 a day - and all information on accommodation and transport would be available in four languages on its website.

Roads in the area had been upgraded to ease gridlock and additional trains and flights would operate.

"We have wrapped up all preparations for a successful event," Park Joon-Young, the KAVO chief executive, said in the statement.

KAVO has won a deal to host the race for seven years with an option to extend for five more.


A ride around the circuit in a Red Bull by Karun Chandhok :-

This was done in early September 2010, and clear to see there's still a lot of work to be done.




Pit Stop Schedule

1 Stop     Laps 27-33
2 Stops     16-27, 35-41
3 Stops    14-19, 25-30, 38-43


General setup.



The combination of a 1.2 km long straight and a twisting outfield part of the circuit means that aerodynamic set-up will be a compromise and uncertainty over how the track will change may push teams to be cautious in their approach by selecting a lower downforce package in order to defend the tight corner at the end of the straight, sacrificing pace in the twisting section.


DRS Zone

The FIA will continue with its run of single DRS zones after experimenting with double zones and independent-double zones earlier in the season.




The Korean Grand Prix will see a single-zone down the second straight which follows on the from turn two. The straight is one of the longest on the calendars and runs for 1,050 metres, but the activation area will only utilise two thirds of that.

Detection will take place between turns one and two, before activation 350 metres after turn two. Turn three offers the best area for overtaking as it's a slow corner taken at just 80km/h in second gear.

Information provided by Xevi Pujolar (Williams), Pastor Maldonado's race engineer.

Suspension

There are concerns from the teams that some of the kerbs are going to cause issues, so the cars are going to need to work on getting power down and still being to run down the long straight in to a very tight corner.


Ride heights

Ride heights are likely to be quite lower than in Singapore, but there is a concern with the high kerbs at Yeongam, which will then alter the ride heights.

Aero requirements

With the longest straight on an Asian GP track, the Adrian Newey designed Red Bull's will have competition from the McLaren's and Ferrari's, who have shown that they aren't short on top speed.



Tyres

Pirelli have confirmed the use of the medium and soft compounds for the Japanese GP and the soft and supersofts for Korea.

Although this is Pirelli's first season in Formula One, the Italian tyre manufacturer has spent a great deal of time examining the characteristics of the various circuit to see which tyres would be better suited.

For Suzuka, a track that is demanding on tyres, they have otped to go with the medium and soft compounds while for Korea, which is a much slower track, the Italian tyre supplier has chosen their soft and supersoft tyres.

Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembery said: "After careful analysis of all the data we have available, we have come up with what we believe to be the nominations that are best suited to the characteristics of each circuit.

"While Suzuka is a track that we've competed on before, both in GT racing and on motorbikes, Korea is a circuit that most people are still learning about.

"Nonetheless, we benefit from advanced simulation technology that allows us to accurately predict the likely behaviour of each tyre even on tracks that we have never seen before.

"The extra performance of the supersoft makes it one of the most dynamic tyres in our range, which will form a key part of the strategy in Korea."




Weather

At this stage it is looking like moderate fine days for the upcoming weekend with temperatures hovering around the 21 - 22 degree mark. Certainly a change from 2010.



Weather forecast  HERE.


Circuit Facts


Built on wetlands near Mokpo in South Korea, and planned to have highrise buildings and its own little harbour for the beautiful people to watch the race from their yahts, a mini-Monaco.


So what is going to happen in this year's race ?

Will RBR put a bit more effort behind Webber to give him and the team a better chance on making 2011 a RBR 1 and 2. Now that Vettel has won the WDC one would think their next effort would be to achieve a 1-2 for the year.

Will Button and McLaren make it two race wins in a row ?

Will Alonso break through again ?

When will Hamilton and Massa knock wheels again ?  Will it be in FP1, 2, or 3, or will they wait till the race to take each other out ??

Above all else, will we get another wet and miserable 'race' under the SC this year ??


Current (pre Korean GP)WDC points:


Pos,  Driver,                Country,        Team,             Points

1    Sebastian Vettel    German    RBR-Renault    324
2    Jenson Button    British    McLaren-Mercedes    210
3    Fernando Alonso    Spanish    Ferrari    202
4    Mark Webber    Australian    RBR-Renault    194 
5    Lewis Hamilton    British    McLaren-Mercedes    178
6    Felipe Massa    Brazilian    Ferrari    90
7    Nico Rosberg    German    Mercedes    63
8    Michael Schumacher    German    Mercedes    60
9    Vitaly Petrov    Russian    Renault    36
10    Nick Heidfeld    German    Renault    34
11    Adrian Sutil    German    Force India-Mercedes    28
12    Kamui Kobayashi    Japanese    Sauber-Ferrari    27
13    Paul di Resta    British    Force India-Mercedes    20
14    Jaime Alguersuari    Spanish    STR-Ferrari    16
15    Sergio Perez    Mexican    Sauber-Ferrari    13
16    Sebastien Buemi    Swiss    STR-Ferrari    13
17    Rubens Barrichello    Brazilian    Williams-Cosworth    4
18    Bruno Senna    Brazilian    Renault    2
19    Pastor Maldonado    Venezuelan    Williams-Cosworth    1
20    Pedro de la Rosa    Spanish    Sauber-Ferrari    0
21    Jarno Trulli    Italian    Lotus-Renault    0
22    Heikki Kovalainen    Finnish    Lotus-Renault    0
23    Vitantonio Liuzzi    Italian    HRT-Cosworth    0
24    Jerome d'Ambrosio    Belgian    Virgin-Cosworth    0
25    Timo Glock    German    Virgin-Cosworth    0
26    Narain Karthikeyan    Indian    HRT-Cosworth    0
27    Daniel Ricciardo    Australian    HRT-Cosworth    0 
28    Karun Chandhok    Indian    Lotus-Renault    0


FIA Formula 1 constructors' world championship



Position,    Team ,   Points

1    RBR-Renault    518
2    McLaren-Mercedes    388
3    Ferrari    292
4    Mercedes    123
5    Renault    72
6    Force India-Mercedes    48
7    Sauber-Ferrari    40
8    STR-Ferrari    29
9    Williams-Cosworth    5
10    Lotus-Renault    0
11    HRT-Cosworth    0
12    Virgin-Cosworth    0

[Ian G.]

Thanks,interesting to see how Mark goes after the disappointment last year & RB resources now 50% behind him.

[Mothers Worry]

Awesome preview BP.

[Oldtony]

Great preview but why doesn't the poll give "all of the above" as an option?

[Mothers Worry]

Great preview but why doesn't the poll give "all of the above" as an option?

Great point.

[bpratt]

Great preview but why doesn't the poll give "all of the above" as an option?

Fixed.

You can also change your vote for this one.

[vicfrog]

top notch preview once again bp.very much appreciated.

[Mothers Worry]

Great quali; really entertaining.

I personally found Webber pretty disappointing in his final effort.

Ferrari are weak.

I had to laugh at Brundle and Coulthard. They really like to bag this (Tilke designed) pit lane entrance. Great commentators. Probably the best combo since Hunt and Walker, in my opinion. Being drivers they don't bull s**t.

[Ian G.]

There OK as commentators but make a lot of basic errors,its not hard to ID a tyre at a pit stop,they must be watching a different feed sometimes or being distracted by the director.
Fingers crossed for Mark but it looks like Mclaren have the pace this W/end but you never know.

[bpratt]

Live Timing Qualifying results :-




Not often this year we've seen a non-RBR led grid. 

[Mothers Worry]

Go Ricciardo!

[Mothers Worry]

Great racing from Webber v Massa and Webber v Hamilton.

[bpratt]

Interesting race, but it had me a bit puzzled as to why RBR pitted Webber at the same time as Hamilton when I would have thought Webber still had good hot tyres.

I know of the undercut, but I thought Webber would've had a much faster car after he cleared Hamilton.... something we'll never know.


Live Timing results :-



Good run for Ricciardo finishing a lap up on his teammate, but also infront of D'Ambrosio too.