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FIA confirms changes to F1 French GP pit entry and exit at Paul Ricard

20/06/2019

The FIA has confirmed changes brought to the F1 French GP pit entry and pit exit after complaints at Circuit Paul Ricard.

The F1 French preview by the FIA carried information regarding the changes made to the pit entry and pit exit along with areas where the circuit has undertaken resurfacing to diminish the issues faced by teams and drivers in the 2018 F1 grand prix.

Regarding the pit entry, the FIA noted that it has been reconfigured and resurfaced and it is not on the right side of Turn 14. At the same time, the pit exit has been reconfigured, widened and extended towards Turn 1, for drivers joining the track.

The pitlane speed limit has been altered as well to 60 km/hr from the 80 km/hr after issues faced by drivers last year with the Mercedes garage right next to the pit entry. Elsewhere, the FIA also noted about track resurfacing at certain corners.

The corners include Turn 1, from Turn 3 to Turn 7, in sections from just after Turn 8 to just after Turn 11, in Turn 12 and from Turn 14 through to Turn 15. Like the 2018 F1 race, the DRS zone remains the same with detection points ahead of the two straights.

The first zone has a detection point 75m before Turn 7 and an activation point 170m after Turn 7. Meanwhile, the second zone has a detection point at Turn 14 and activation 115m after Turn 15.

Outside the track changes, the organisers are confident of handling traffic too. “The plan we have is good,” said Eric Boullier. “It has been dictated by data. We partnered with a company called Citec in Switzerland, which has world-class expertise in mobility plans for large events.

“They looked after the Ryder Cup in France last year, the 2016 UEFA European Championship and they are working with the Olympics for the 2024 Games in Paris. They took all of the data we had from last year and with that knowledge of how the traffic flowed, and where and when it was at its heaviest.

“They built simulations and came back with a plan. We have a new traffic management plan and we are working closely with the local authorities through a steering committee. We have additional access points to the circuit without crossing streams of traffic.

“We will have 170 shuttles available to the general public with 4,000 Parking & Ride places and we have partnered with traffic app Waze who will dedicate some engineers to the grand prix so that we have real-time traffic information that can be accessed by everyone.

“We have to fix the issues we had last year – that’s a given. And if solve those problems and if we pass the second edition without mobility issues it will be forgotten.” It remains to be seen how seamless the traffic will for this year’s grand prix.

Meanwhile, the stewards for the F1 French GP will be Yannick Dalmas, Mathieu Remmerie and Tim Mayer, with only Remmerie being the same one from Canadian GP. Both Emanuele Pirro and Dr. Gerd Ennser are present too but only for the Ferrari hearing.

Velocidad máxima en pitlane será de 60km/h. La nueva entrada sigue siendo estrecha y complicada con una curva 90 grados y una chicana antes d pitlane

The pitlane maximum speed will be 60km/h. The new pit entry is still narrow and difficult with a 90 corner and chicane before pit pic.twitter.com/Axa6wzIrIX

— Albert Fabrega (@AlbertFabrega) June 20, 2019