#with just how wide the track is turn 1 at cota

[mgu-h]

one thing i appreciate about jolyon palmer's analysis is that he put lando's penalty in context, instead of criticizing his driving at all, he talks about max's masterful defense, and then criticizes mclaren for their poor management of the race, specifically the error made in judging that lando was ahead at the apex. like he emphasizes just how well max was defending in the laps leading up to the decisive pass, and then criticizes max's going off track as technically in the gray areas of the regulations but "not fair" racing.

it was just nice to hear jolyon easily dismiss the idea of lando 'just needing to go to the inside' like many people have been yapping about, arguing lando would've known well that max would just cover off the inside if he tried. max was "holding his rival on the outside" and lando would've known that going to the outside was "the only way" that he'd be able to pass at all. like it's immensely frustrating for us to watch, yes, but it's not due to lando's 'skill issue' as i've seen said that he couldn't easily through. max simply did not let it happen, and mclaren gave him bad information on the radio afterward.

[race-week]

What is a Tilkedrome and why do all the modern F1 tracks look so similar?

Everyone has their preferences when it comes to what makes a good F1 track, personally I am a massive fan of elevation changes although saying that two of my favourite tracks are actually pretty flat. One person's preferences for track design has shaped all of the modern F1 tracks and that is Hermann Tilke.

The rules for a track to be FIA grade 1 are pretty strict in regards to new circuits, things like the camber of the track, the length of the straights, the width of the track and the degree of banking are all regulated and so that means there is little room for creativity.

Tilke is one of the only FIA approved track designers and as such has designed motorsport tracks from 1999, as well as renovated pre-existing tracks. The first few tracks he designed were incredible and served their purpose - in the late 90s and early 2000s overtaking was an issue in F1 and to counteract that problem he designed Sepang, which is so wide, at its absolute narrowest is 16 meters across and almost 25 meters at its widest (most tracks widest point is narrower than Sepang's narrowest), Bahrain followed in 2004 along with Shanghai, with Turkey opening in 2005, and Tilke's first street track in Marina Bay Singapore in 2009.

None of these tracks were bad they all had a good response from fans but it soon became clear that they shared some similarities. However it was with his 2009 creation that had fans turning against him - I'm sure you can guess which track this was ... Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi.

There was so much that could have been done with this track but it soon became clear that too much of Tilke's focus was shifted towards fancy architecture and expensive paddock buildings than creating good racing, as he seemed to just be using a toolbox of generic corners to build a track.

He redeemed himself slightly in 2010 with the Korea track, and its a shame that we don't get to see racing on that track any more, but still it was very Tilke, he was once again using his generic corner toolbox which sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. Other circuits included Buddh, COTA, Sochi, Baku, Vietnam and more recently Jeddah and the 2022 Miami track.

The moment I saw the renders for the Miami track my initial thought was "hmm it looks very Tilke, I wonder if its one of his?" and sure enough its his design but hidden under one of his companies, much like how the Jeddah track was.

So what actually makes a Tilkedrome; well, long back to back straights with a heavy breaking zone, fixed radius corners, switchback (usually turn 1/turn 2), multi apex corner, a Maggots and Becketts clone, 90 degree corners

Purpose Built Circuits: Sepang (Malasia), Bahrain, Shanghai (China), Istanbul Park (Turkey), Buddh (India), COTA (Texas, USA)

Hybrid Circuits: Yas Marina (Abu Dhabi), Korea, Sochi Autodrom (Russia)

Street Circuits: Marina Bay (Singapore), Baku City Circuit (Azerbaijan), Jeddah Street Circuit (Saudi Arabia)

Miami Street Circuit

The Miami circuit is to be more of a hybrid type circuit with a combination of purpose built track (albeit in a car park/parking lot) but also some street track. However I’m not hopeful about the racing there - there’s no elevation change and it seems like they’ve pretty much used the same formula as Jeddah and Vietnam.

Looking at these what is your favourite Tilke track and looking at the Tilkedrome criteria what one do you think is the most Tilke?