The FIA has shared about changes made to the Interlagos circuit for F1 Brazil GP along with the DRS zones, PU elements plus curfew waiver and more.
Unlike most other tracks, the Interlagos venue has no track limits note from the FIA Race Director for the F1 Brazil GP weekend. It is one of those rare venues to have no problems with track limits to start off at least as they can add one if they wish.
Having not been on the calendar for the 2020 F1 season, it makes a return this year and there are few changes made to the circuit with some resurface and kerb changes at certain parts of the track – they are:
- A small area at the apex of Turn 4 has been resurfaced.
- The apex kerbs at Turn 6 and Turn 7 have been replaced with a new Bevel Kerb.
- The track surface has been grooved to assist drainage between Turns 9 and 10 and on the righthand side of the pit straight.
In terms of the DRS zones, the detection for the first one is at the apex of Turn 2 and activation 30m after Turn 3, while the second’s detection zone is 30m after Turn 13 and the activation zone being 160m after Turn 15.
The team of the FIA stewards will be led by Tim Mayer, who will be assisted by Matteo Perini, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Roberto Pupo Moreno. They have already started their work after a late arrival of the freight from Mexico to Brazil due to weather conditions.
The team at the FIA has given everyone a waiver of scrutineering which will allow them to work through the night to prepare for FP1 on Friday morning and not worry about the deadline to get the cars checked before the race weekend.
“In accordance with Art 25.2 of the FIA Formula 1 Sporting Regulations, the Stewards hereby give a waiver to all Competitors in the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix from the time limit in Art 25.1 and require that each Competitor be required to carry out initial scrutineering of his cars and submit the duly completed declaration no later than three (3) hours before the start of P1,” said the statement.
Two planes were affected and it seems like those carried most of the engine parts with majority of the outfits waiting for them to arrive. Some of them carried cars too, which means they had their garage ready, but with no cars to work on.
“I think the guys just have to work through the night,” said Haas chief Steiner to media including FormulaRapida.net. “That’s the only thing you can do. I don’t know if we need to work through the night, but it will be for sure a late night.
“All the rest of the regulations has been changed as of this morning, the curfew and the scrutineering times have been all adjusted so that we can still do the event as planned, not change the timetable of the event that that’s the plan. I think that’s achievable now.
“You have got sea freight, that is the garage building and hospitality and each team has between five and six sets that come in containers. So we could set up the garage and the hospitality building. We were also lucky that our IT equipment came with a plane.
“So we could set that all up. What is missing – I don’t know exactly which car parts – but the engines and the toolboxes. So we still cannot work on the cars, even if some of the parts may be there, because we do not have the tools,” summed up Steiner.
Not just Haas but several other teams were affected but as Steiner noted it shouldn’t affect the schedule with the FIA trying to help them as much. Moving on, the note also presented an updated list of the power unit elements used until the Mexico weekend.
In terms of ICE, majority are on their fourth element leaving Alfa Romeo and Haas duo who are on their third, while Valtteri Bottas has six. Looking at TC and MGU-H, majority are on their fourth leaving Lewis Hamilton, Alfa Romeo and Haas with three and Bottas with five.
As for MGU-K, it is mixed bag with seven on their fourth, five on their third and remaining eight with just two used. In terms of ES, 12 drivers are on their second with seven on their third and only Sergio Perez with four used uptill now.
And finally for CE, 10 are on their second, nine on their third and only Perez with four. Here’s the full list: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2021%20Brazilian%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20PU%20elements%20used%20per%20driver%20up%20to%20now.pdf
Here’s the FIA Race Directors’ note: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2021%20Brazilian%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Race%20Directors’%20Event%20Notes%20.pdf