George Russell feels what was once one of the worst corners in F1 has now become one of the best that should at least help spice up the Spanish Grand Prix.
A chicane in the final sector that was introduced in 2007 has now been removed, leading to a fast, right-handed sweep out of Turn 13 and through the final corner, increasing lap times by close to six seconds, as witnessed in second practice.
The previous configuration resulted in the cars being unable to carry any speed into the final turn and onto the start-finish straight, which compromised overtaking.
Russell and Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, however, feel the change has made a considerable difference.
Following FP2, at the end of which Russell was eight quickest, with seven-time champion Hamilton three places further back, the Briton said: “It was fun to drive around the new version of this Barcelona circuit.
“It’s gone from probably one of the worst corners in Formula 1 to probably one of the best corners in Formula 1, so that’s really enjoyable.”
Hamilton added: “It’s awesome. It’s very fast. I definitely prefer it to the small chicane we had in the past. It’s much more fun.
“I’ve not followed anyone through there so I don’t know how that’s going to be in the race but it’s definitely going make it tough on deg (tyre degradation).”
The expectation is for a two-, potentially three-stop race, and with added porpoising thrown in for good effect as the final corner features a bump on its entry which sparks a level of bouncing for some cars down the straight that was a dominant feature of last year.
Russell complained of his car “bottoming out” early in FP2, to which he remarked: “We’re just pushing the ride height of the car.
“We solved it for the second half of the session just by lifting it a little bit. It’s a really bumpy through the final corner, it’s a little bit sketchy through there.”
The primary reason behind the re-profiling of the circuit is to aid overtaking into Turn 1, an aspect of the track that has long been a problem as cars have been unable to follow.
As to the prospects of greater overtaking, Russell added: “It’ll probably help overtaking a little bit. With the old layout, because it’s such a slow-speed corner, you could only get so close, and then the guy ahead puts his foot down and disappears.”
As to Mercedes’ prospects for the weekend, neither Russell nor Hamilton are expecting to be fighting near the front despite the upgrades on the car that were introduced at the last race in Monaco.
“It (the car) is so different from last week,” assessed Hamilton. “The long run pace didn’t look terrible but we just have to try and work on how we can extract more from a single lap.
“From the pace that I had, it’s a struggle for me to get into the top 10, but hopefully we can make some changes overnight. It is not going to be easy that is for sure.”
Russell added: “We know that we’re not Friday specialists, and we often take a bit of a step forward on Saturday and Sunday, which is the right way round for it to be.
“We weren’t expecting to suddenly set the world on fire, so we just need to learn what we can from the info we’ve got, and try and move forward.
“I don’t expect us to be having an incredible day (for qualifying) but I certainly expect us to have a better Sunday than Saturday. That’s what we’re gearing up for.”
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