The core problems Yas Marina’s long-awaited tweaks won't address

By:

GP Racing

Jul 26, 2021, 10:08 AM

OPINION: Changes to the layout of Abu Dhabi’s circuit aim to reverse the trend of insipid Formula 1 races there - the promoter has even described one of the new corners as “iconic”. And that, argues STUART CODLING, is one of this venue’s abiding failings

Subscribe to PLUS Sign in

It’s arguably a cliche – but no less true for being repeated – that while you can’t polish a turd you can roll it in glitter. What, then, to make of the news that the unloved Yas Marina circuit is to be given a nip-and-tuck in the hope of generating more overtaking opportunities for F1 cars?

Certainly, this was a case of now or never given the imminent arrival of a new technical formula which will eliminate DRS, the widely derided overtaking gimmick which has acted as Yas Marina’s get-out-of-jail-free card for the past decade. For all the spectacle of the venue itself and the razzmatazz of the day-into-night format, it remains extraordinary that a track with a back straight so long you can’t see the end of it from within the cockpit yields so few ‘genuine’ passes and so little strategic variety.