Upcoming safety adaptations on the circuits

New aerodynamics, larger tires… The new features of the 2017 technical regulations in F1 will offer competitors the opportunity to drive single-seaters that are significantly more efficient than the cars seen in 2016.

Lap times are expected to be improved by at least three seconds, and the performance of the single-seaters will also constrain the teams to modify their approach to the circuits, with some corners potentially going full throttle in 2017.

The circuits will also have to adapt from a safety point of view, as Laurent Mékiès, director of safety for the FIA ​​and new deputy race director, explained at the Autosport International Show.

The former engineer Toro Rosso detailed the process put in place by the international federation and specified that Albert Park in Melbourne will notably have to replace the tire walls of turn 12 with safety barriers, in view of the results of the simulations carried out.

“Each team was invited to provide simulations with their 2017 single-seaters, explains Mékiès, quoted by Reuters. We used this data to power our own software.

So we ran simulations on each track, with much higher cornering speeds, up to 40 km/h faster in high-speed corners. Each track receives an update request from the FIA ​​based on this work. »