The Austin bumps have been a constant presence since Formula 1 stops there, with the instability of the terrain on which the circuit was built leading to an uneven surface.
Over the years work has been done constantly to try to improve the situation, the COTA bumps were an important talking point in the last MotoGP race, when the riders complained a lot.
Among other things, they have requested that the track be resurfaced in several areas, threatening not to return to racing in 2022 unless action is taken.
In the wake of the MotoGP troubles, Formula 1 race director Michael Masi has been in contact with the circuit and asked for at least one bump rectification to be done in the roughest areas.
However, the problem is unlikely to be eradicated entirely, so Gasly thinks the Austin weekend will be particularly tricky, especially since the bumps were already annoying enough when Formula 1 last visited Austin in 2019.
“I think this weekend could be quite complicated,” said the Frenchman. “Having seen the MotoGP a few weeks ago, the bumps situation now seems more serious than the last time we raced there.”
“It will require some sort of compromise on setup, but we won’t really know until we get there. I’m not particularly worried, because our car works just fine just about everywhere at the moment. We just have to avoid ‘ambushes’ to keep fighting with the Alpine in the World Championship “.
A scenic view of the circuit
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
COTA was recently visited on behalf of the FIA by US expert Tony Cotman, who oversaw the design of several IndyCar circuits. After the visit, Masi explained that the work is focusing precisely on rectifying the areas with the most disconnections.
“And what we have actually realized is that since the 2019 F1 event a large part of the circuit has been resurfaced to counter some of the problems we saw two years ago.”
“The areas that the motorcycles have raised issues on are areas other than those that have been resurfaced. And Tony Cotman, who is one of the FIA circuit inspectors, was in Austin during the week, and made a report.
“The circuit is making some changes to address some of the concerns. They will try to smooth out some bumps and so on. But there is little time to do that, so they do what they can.”
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