F1 at Portimão Preview and Guide

This month Formula 1 comes to the Autódromo do Algarve, in what is one of the biggest sporting events to ever come to the area. Whether you are going to spectate or just watch on TV, what can you expect to see?

A friend of mine recently said, “I used to think F1 was as exciting as watching Scalextric model cars go round and round, but then I discovered Drive to Survive on Netflix”. The Netflix series, now in its second season, is a really good background to the sport. Motorsport, particularly F1, is unique amongst sports. It is not just about a single athlete or team of athletes. Winning depends upon a large team and a very high technology car. This is the fascination for me. It is not just a sport about technology or driver versus driver. It is a very human sport, critically dependent on the whole team performance. The Netflix series shows this and I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more.

The Autódromo was designed by CEO Paulo Pinheiro, based upon hours and hours of study of the world's great race tracks. Its unique feature is the undulating change of elevation. This, in combination with blind corners where drivers cannot see more than a few metres in front, makes a serious challenge. The first corner is a good example, being at the end of a very high speed one kilometre long straight. As the driver brakes for the corner, the track dips and then rises. This means a change of braking effort is required to avoid locking the brakes. Almost every corner of the circuit provides a similar challenge.

I wanted to get the opinions of some key figures in F1. I spoke to Karun Chandhok, who is one of the main presenters on SkyF1 TV. India-born Karun has raced in F1 as well as other top racing series. In 2009, he raced for Autódromo based Ocean Racing, who competed in GP2, now F2. He raced at the Autódromo.

I asked him what his thoughts are for the race here. Karun replied, “Must be exciting for everyone down there to finally have a race! The track will certainly be a tricky one for tyres. There are lots of places where you need to brake and turn, putting a lot of load on the front tyres. Throw in the wind that you get there in the afternoons and it could really be tricky for the teams and drivers”.

“Also, you have a lot of high-speed corners where the cars will struggle to follow each other. The blind crests and corners will cause a few issues with drivers potentially making errors”, Karun concluded. Anyone who has been following this season will know that tyre wear has been a key issue, so expect a surprise result at the Autódromo.

Zac Brown, CEO and team principal at McLaren, also looks forward to the race. Part of McLaren driver Lando Norris’s development programme was held here at the Autódromo in July 2017. Norris had won the very prestigious Autosport BRDC young driver award and part of that prize is a McLaren F1 test. Normally a few laps at Silverstone, but Brown wanted to really test his man. “Portimão is a great circuit that is very challenging for the driver, which allows us to really understand a driver's capability, commitment and consistency”, Brown said. It’s also clear that Zac is a real fan of the Autódromo. “I think Formula One around Portimão will be outstanding for the drivers and fans,” he says. “It’s something we will love to see”, he concludes.

At the time of writing, tickets were still on sale via the Autódromo website. A total of 50,000 are on sale, subject of course to any health restrictions.

By Phil Egginton, who is a journalist and photographer and now lives in the Algarve.

+INFO: www.aia.pt / www.formula1.com