Racing lines

Drivers’ take on the Buddh track.

There are plenty of challenges ahead for drivers at the first ever Indian Grand Prix. To begin with, they have to contend with the fact that they’ve never raced at this circuit ever before. Let’s not forget, a lot of them manage to drive at most of the European circuits as they are rising through the ranks of junior formulae. This makes their first time in a Formula 1 car just a little bit easier because they have the advantage of already knowing what the circuit is like and what racing lines to take.

Of course, India poses a challenge because other than Narain Karthikeyan who has done a couple of laps in a road car, no other driver taking part in the Indian Grand Prix has managed to get any track time. The first they would have seen of the track was on the Friday morning practice session. So how will drivers deal with this? On the eve of the GP, we caught up with Sahara Force India drivers Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta to find out.

Before setting out on their first lap at the Buddh International Circuit, the teams manage to gather as much information as they can in order for their drivers to find the transition onto a new track a little easier. Much of this is achieved by the use of racing simulators. “Simulators are the only way where we can get ourselves into the groove of the track as much as possible. But more than that, on Friday afternoon during practice you should just try and get a lot of laps in so you can decide on your strategy and approach to the race,” says di Resta.

When it comes to what they’ve learnt from the simulator sessions, di Resta says that India is very difficult from a lot of the other circuits that you see. “To begin with, there are a lot of blind corners and since this is a new track, there is a lot to concentrate on as well. Plus towards the end of the track there are a lot of straights where you rely a lot on mechanical grip.” Given the high temperatures, the former DTM champion is also expecting the tyre usage to be very different as well.

And what do they think of the DRS zone? Well, Sutil says “The DRS zone is on the long straight which should be okay enough to get us closer to the other car. You’ve seen it at the other circuits, you push the button and hope to get past after that”.

So that’s the drivers’ take on what to expect from the Indian GP. Straight from the horses’ mouths, then!