The chicane of the third sector at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya may have its days numbered in Formula 1, and the people responsible for the Montmeló track have confirmed that they already know how to homologate the ‘fast’ version of the circuit for the premier category of motorsport. It will be available for use from the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix, so not in the current season, as there was no time to perform the changes.
In recent months, those responsible for the circuit have expressed their interest in exploring the possibility of recovering the ‘classic’ third sector, without the chicane from entry to the finish line, which slows down the cars without offering significant overtaking opportunities.
In February, the director of the facility explained that he wanted to take advantage of the 2022 F1 pre-season testing session to see the cornering speed of the new single-seaters and thus carry out the relevant calculations to make this modification possible.
Three months later, at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya they have already done the numbers and have determined that it would be enough to incorporate a TecPro protection barrier in front of the existing tire barriers to guarantee the safety of the drivers in the event of an accident in that area of the track, as reported by Spanish publication SoyMotor.
The director, José Luis Santamaría, announced at the presentation of the Spanish GP that they have everything ready in order to homologate the third sector without the chicane, so that the track will have two different layouts suitable for hosting Formula 1 events from the next season. In 2022, the race will maintain the configuration of recent years, but from 2023 it will be up to Formula 1 to determine which option it wants to use. The Spanish GP organizers will not impose a specific configuration, but will let F1 decide.
It is remarkable that this modification would not imply any work on the installation, because in February those responsible for the Circuit believed that they would have to increase the depth of the run-offs. Winter tests showed that it would not be necessary.
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“We have been working to homologate the old layout without the chicane as Grade 1”, Santamaría explained this Wednesday when asked by SoyMotor.com at the presentation of the Spanish Grand Prix, held at the Tibidabo amusement park with the city of Barcelona as a background.
“We already have the solution for this route, which is to increase safety with TecPro barriers. Taking advantage of Formula 1, we are going to homologate that track and it will be up to the race promoters if they want to use one track or another The idea is that, with these new security measures, the circuit can be Grade 1 with both variants.” – The managing director of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, José Luis Santamaría, concluded.
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