It doesn’t take an expert to suggest “yes”. The last few races have been played out in relatively hot and/or humid conditions. Japan was very wet and the temperatures in this region of the world are now and were, especially then, pretty warm. The race before that was in Singapore, a country known for being hot and humid. Before that, the F1 basked in the European summer.
But come Korea’s first ever F1 GP in 10 days time, well, from someone who’s lived here a few years, the temperature and the humidity drops off sharply in October. There is a very short autumn between Korea’s short, hot and humid summers and her long, cold and dry winters.
In a sport where 1000ths of seconds can be crucial and hence be the difference between millions of dollars, things like temperature and humidity are important factors to weigh in. Such things do affect the cars (they affect ours too but we just don’t notice).
Sudden temperature and/or climate changes affect us, too (read: the drivers… heck, even the mechanics).
Added to that, the track is one of a handful that are anti-clockwise. This will place huge G-forces on the other side as-per-usual of driver’s necks. Huge to the point of 4 to 5 Gs. Imagine training your neck to resist a certain force, then one weekend it has to endure the opposite for which it is less trained? If still unsure, put a 300kg weight on one side of your neck and see how it feels.*
*Well that’s for the body but the neck still cops it… big time.
And consider this. The last two races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi are both in hot climates, one wet, one dry.
So we go from a string of “hot races” to one “cold” race, to more “hot” races.
It’ll be an extra challenge for the teams but a win for the fans. Nothing like stirring the pot, keeping the teams on their toes!
Video. (Narrated by Mark Webber, the current leader of the championship and an Aussie!)
PS
This race is vital to Korea and it’s a damn shame the entire track (well, the track is OK, I mean the rest) most likely won’t be picture perfect come race day. I’m anticipating teething problems (go figure). However, for all their faults, Korea is a nation that 50 years ago received aid from Somalia, and look at them now. They’ll work it out, even if my Korean co-teacher continues to be “difficult”.
Oh, the parallels…
Regardless, can’t wait! Even if the facilities will probably be worse than in Dehli.
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