Why hasn't Laguna Seca been in F1 calendar?

[raymondu999]

Why is it that Laguna Seca has never been in F1? I would imagine the corkscrew would be fun to go through in an F1 car

[Giblet]

This has been discussed, but the laps are too short, the corners not good for passing in a high speed car, as most have only one line, and the runoff areas are too short, so without major changes, it's inherent nature is not indicative to F1.

iRacing is releasing the FW-31 and Laguna is already accurately modeled, so I'll tell you how it is in a few months after I race there against a field of other FW-31's.

[Belatti]

IMHO Laguna Seca is only 1 nice turn in a horrible kart track.

[ESPImperium]

I think i worked it out that if F1 was to go to Laguna Seca, the guys would do something like 82 laps arround it, unless the track got lengthened significantly, and bu signifcantly, i worked it out that it would need only about 0.450km added to make it arround a 74 lap race, but the lap times would still be arround the 1:12 to 1:14 mark, whitch is too short for a permanant facility, the current shortest facilitys are Interlagos and Hungary. And for that modification, Laguna seca, just plain dosnt have the space avalable.

Not gonna happen, better luck at Baber Motorsports Park or Watkins Glen maybes. Even Indy needs to be lengthened now, as the 2009 regs could see the cars posibly do 208-213mph into Turn 1 there.

The US needs a good 5.5-6.3Km F1 standard road course somewhere, that would get the attendance, the people watching on TV and be exciting enough for the drivers to race on, meanwhile can be used for NASCAR/IRL/CART/Grand AM and ALMS racing.

Personally, i think that F1 needs to go to an oval, yes boring for us F1 guys, but would get the audience for the US audience, and would add a dicipline that F1 currently dosnt have, and i think needs to validate it as where the best in the world "come to play" so to speak.

[Giblet]

IMHO Laguna Seca is only 1 nice turn in a horrible kart track.

I have to agree for the most part.

Yeah very few flowing corners, most corners except the corkscrew and the one immediately following, are off camber, not fun, and tend to be just outside what feels like the natural abilities of the car.

The kink on the uphill before the corkscrew is also pretty fun, as it's semi blind and takes some commitment.

Snapping off the brakes a little fast to get the rear rotating, it just usually feels awkward and wrong generally.

[Belatti]

Maybe my opinion is biased by the fact that I hate Laguna Seca from the PS2 game Grand Turismo 4 (that is the last game I have played for more than 1 hour since I was 18)

Yes, I could beat all the missions and win all races, even manage the green hell with ease, but Laguna has always had something, you just cant accelerate right, cant brake right and it seems that shorty you always have to brake when you are travelling at 150mph.

[ESPImperium]

Maybe my opinion is biased by the fact that I hate Laguna Seca from the PS2 game Grand Turismo 4 (that is the last game I have played for more than 1 hour since I was 18)

Yes, I could beat all the missions and win all races, even manage the green hell with ease, but Laguna has always had something, you just cant accelerate right, cant brake right and it seems that shorty you always have to brake when you are travelling at 150mph.

With some cars, it feels alsmost right, the others it is just horrid.

Theres something about that track that i just couldnt get a car ballanced right, one corner understeer, the next snap oversteer or vice versa.

Appart from the cork screw, the only other decently intresting corner is the first one. After that, maybes turn 2 to 3 what ever way you look at it, the one before the Dunlop/Red Bull bridge.

[Pandamasque]

Interestingly Watkins Glen are now revamping the track to meet the FIA standards (curbs, paved run-offs etc.)

[ESPImperium]

Interestingly Watkins Glen are now revamping the track to meet the FIA standards (curbs, paved run-offs etc.)

I thought that was to FIA Class II or B standard or what ever they call it now so they can run more races there, but that F1 needs Class I or A Standard rating with authorised improvement methods to make sure holomoginisation is achived.

However, the second class standard is what you have to meet for F1 testing standards tho.

Watkins would be a fun place to go, ill admit that. And theyll get the crowds to break even or make a profit and be a great drivers track.

[Giblet]

This is my personal best at Laguna. I made a couple of obvious tiny errors, but that is the joy of iRacing. Every single lap is a different challenge, no two the same.

I figure with work I can get it down the mid 47's, but that might be about it.

1:48.067

I'm still trying to suck some forum members into the best driving sim ever.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LegVDiBKUaQ[/youtube]

[Belatti]

I wish I had the time and equipment to play that

BTW, have you tried to do a lap without braking over the external kerbs ?

[hpras]

Have you had a look at this, things aren't as easy as they seem.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olWCXfwTvhI[/youtube]

[Pandamasque]

@ hpras
GT4 featured in that episode of TopGear is not even near proper simulations like iRacing and rFactor. Of course it's more scary in reality but ultimately the lap times are pretty close.

[Giblet]

I wish I had the time and equipment to play that

BTW, have you tried to do a lap without braking over the external kerbs ?

After suffering with a Pentium 4 2.4ghz machine I bought used a number of years ago, I was finally recently able to buy a good machine. i7-920 4x3.2ghz, with an OK gfx card. The wheel is only a Logitech Momo, which is around $105 on sale. The g27 is almost $400. One of the fastest guys in iRacing uses a 1998 MS Sidewinder non force feedback wheel held together with duct tape. he's also 15 and has to use his dads credit card.

A good driver can overcome inferior equipment

The street tires on this car mean that you need to use every inch of the track to get a good time, but in practice your Safety Rating (SR) is not affected by dropping the occasional wheel, or even a full on crash. If you cut a corner too much, you get an instant black flag, and have to slow down for about 5 seconds to the bottom of 2nd gear, so even though it looked a little haphazard at times, any more cutting would result in a non counted lap.

In a race, each time you have an incident, it counts against your SR, and SR is everything. The more laps you complete without incident, the more SR you will gain after a race, and the faster you will graduate to the next license level, and you will be able to drive quicker cars. Demotion works in the same way, so generally lap times slow a touch in a race.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn96JwbB1Ag[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ6TEbtyO_A[/youtube]

FYI - After doing iRacing, all other sims feel like video games. Forza 3 was so ridiculously easy after this I could not believe it. The only sims that feel at all good, are old, like Grand Prix Legends, and NASCAR 2003. Go figure both are Sierra/Papyrus, and the same guys that made those games, conceived iRacing.

If anyone does decide to sign up, lemme know as their is a referral which helps you and me.

EDIT: And rFactor is good to, but I never managed to get my wheel feeling right with it before I got completely hooked on iRacing.

[christopher.mahlon]

Maybe my opinion is biased by the fact that I hate Laguna Seca from the PS2 game Grand Turismo 4 (that is the last game I have played for more than 1 hour since I was 18)

Yes, I could beat all the missions and win all races, even manage the green hell with ease, but Laguna has always had something, you just cant accelerate right, cant brake right and it seems that shorty you always have to brake when you are travelling at 150mph.

With some cars, it feels alsmost right, the others it is just horrid.

Theres something about that track that i just couldnt get a car ballanced right, one corner understeer, the next snap oversteer or vice versa.

Appart from the cork screw, the only other decently intresting corner is the first one. After that, maybes turn 2 to 3 what ever way you look at it, the one before the Dunlop/Red Bull bridge.

Maybe that's part of the attraction so many feel toward the course: it makes drivers do things they don't want to do and it upsets the car a lot. I do agree, though, the track's too short, unfortunately.

In reality, and we've had this discussion elsewhere, all of the tracks in the US that would be genuinely good for racing aren't in good locations. Watkins Glen, Road America, Mid-Ohio, Road Atlanta, Miller Motorsports Park, Barber: they're all in the middle of nowhere. That's fine if you're Spa and have gobs of Grand Prix history to draw from, but in Bernie's F1, new courses have to be glamour, statement events. Add to that the shocking state of facilities at most American road courses, and Indy remains the ONLY legitimate track for F1 level racing, and it gets that solely by history and facility. The track they run on itself is totally rinky-dink.