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