“Indy is a compromise,” said Kees van der Grint. “There is the infield where you need high downforce, good grip and a softer tyre. Then there is the main straight and the banking where the teams try to reduce their car’s drag to have a very high top speed. With the setups used, the cars will suffer a little bit from lack of downforce in the infield which they try to make up with tyre grip, which means softer compounds.
“Because of the very high speeds and grip requirements we will use the medium and soft compound Bridgestone Potenzas. It is also essential that the teams maintain the correct tyre pressures, as recommended by
Bridgestone.
“This is important from both a safety and performance point of view – especially where you have a banking which creates forces which are nearly double those experienced when the car is in a horizontal position. There is a little bit of a conflict for what is required as Indianapolis is not a straightforward circuit, and this presents a big challenge.”
THE TRACK:
Race Distance: 73 laps - Circuit Length: 2.605 miles (4.192 kms)
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the second oldest motor-racing venue currently in use. The 4.192 kms course that snakes through the infield also utilises part of the fabled Indianapolis oval. Indianapolis has played host to
Formula One since 2000 and now forms a mid-season set of back-to-back races with Canada.
Tony George, head of the Speedway Corporation and a descendent of the Hulman family that has steered the fortunes of the historic American track, pulled out all the stops to create a world-class racing circuit that could provide a permanent home for the United States Grand Prix. In pursuit of that goal, he made radical changes to the original Speedway by demolishing buildings, erecting a new pit complex and grandstands, and building today?s challenging road course.
Overtaking is much easier at Indianapolis than at most tracks, with clear passing opportunities into turns one and eight, both second-gear corners proceeded by long straights. The slowest part of the track is the 40mph turn eight, the first part of an extremely tight S- bend, while the fastest is turn thirteen. This is the first corner of the oval and is taken flat-out at 185mph in an
F1 car.
THE WINNER?
LAST SEASON:
Ferrari’s season took a dramatic turn for the better from the 2006 United States Grand Prix onwards,
Michael Schumacher earning his third win of the season from team-mate
Felipe Massa, albeit only after ‘clutch problems’ in the pit lane solved the team’s issue of how to get the Brazilian back behind the German when he made the better getaway to lead early on.
