Formula One News

Location: Istanbul Race Date: 8th May 2011 Circuit Length: 5.338 km Number of Laps: 58 Race Distance: 309.396 km 2011 Pole Sitter: S.Vettel 2011 Race Winner: S.Vettel Grands Prix Held: 7 Circuit Website: Istanbul Circuit Website Circuit Diagram Produced By: Adrian Dean

Brief History

The F1 circuit of Istanbul Park is one of the few circuits which run in an anti-clockwise direction. It has fourteen corners in all, six right and eight left, with the sharpest having a radius of fifteen metres. Again like many of the newer circuits on the Formula One calendar, the all-new purpose built circuit in Istanbul was designed by German architect Hermann Tilke.

This circuit is influence by other circuits on the Formula One calendar. For instance, corner one is very similar to corner one at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Brazil. Furthermore, the circuit has been enhanced by a variety of gradients, with the track actually being built on four different ground levels. Seating capacity is around 130,000, with 25,000 of those in the main grandstand. The circuit’s skyline is dominated by two seven-floor VIP towers at either end of the paddock.

Turn eight is an exciting corner for both driver and spectator, as it is long, tight and has a “G” force factor of five, which is five times the force if gravity, and last for a full four seconds. It takes a very fit person to endure this amount of pressure lap after lap.

The first Turkish Formula One Grand Prix was held in 2005, and was won by Kimi Raikkonen in his McLaren Mercedes.