Indian F1 GP: First impressions of the virtual kind

Two weekends away from the first ever Indian F1 Grand Prix, and what a weekend it has been! To start with, we got our first virtual view and experience of the Buddh International Circuit on the Codemasters F1 2011 game on the XBox 360. Then, just as we had finished building up our initial impressions of what promises to be a great racing track, Red Bull released this computer generated video of its two drivers going at it on the circuit, with commentary from its drivers. Clearly, we couldn't keep ourselves from letting you know how excited the circuit has gotten us.

To point things out, we've used Tilke's CG render of the circuit. Do remember that the diagram has been super-elevated by 5 times to ensure that the climbs and slopes of the circuit are properly visible, and believe us, they do make for some great racing moments. Only four of the sixteen corners on the racetrack are slow in nature - 100 km/h or less - it's all a fast, fast drive otherwise, with an average lap speed in excess of 200 km/h.

Starting off from the smallish start-finish straight off a flying lap and kissing 300 km/h just before braking hard for the first corner - a slow 100 km/h right hander - the circuit snakes left and rises towards the blind crest that makes Turn 3. The slowest corner on the circuit at around 80 km/h, good drive out of this corner is critical since it leads into the longest straight of the race. Drivers will be able to pick up vulgar speeds very quickly with the DRS and KERS activated - and then climbs up quickly towards the end, with gradual bumps along the way which will prove scary at 300+ km/h. The tricky straight ends in another tight right hander - expect to see lots of drivers trying to outbrake each other here as they shed 200 km/h of velocity as they enter. "Immediately uphill again into turn 4 – from 320 down to 100  – without  locking up a front wheel" says Vettel, and we can see that concern is coming from the uphill corner where the front of the car will not have as much force pushing it down.

Sector 2 is for the real technical racers, since it demands a lot of rhythm and accuracy. Two rapid left-right combinations but drastically different in their makeup lead up to the fifth corner of this sector - a long, winding right hander which rewards patience, and has a lot of different possible lines. "Theoretically there’s room for  several cars next to each other here  – despite the wide track it sometimes can get cramped." If it's not overtaking under the brakes in the first sector, this would be the place where more battles will play out.

Downhill again into the final sector of the circuit, and drivers will be greeted by another interesting left-right combination, the right hander at Turn 13 much sharper than the track map suggests, especially after having picked up all that speed with the assistance of gravity. Another right hander in Turn 15 to set things up for the final corner - a tight left that leads back into the start-finish straight - "downhill  race  with hard braking,  from 260 down to 100", Vettel remarks.

We managed a personal best lap time of 1 minute 31.852 seconds in the game itself (in a Force India car at that!), but it was with dynamic racing lines showing us where and how much to brake, and medium traction control to keep the game car slightly in check. Tilke's designers think that a swift lap of the circuit should clock around 1 minute 27 seconds - but the experience is not just about lap times. Based on our first impressions, the Buddh International Circuit will be challenging for both engineers and drivers in a very exciting sort of way, and will almost certainly throw up a memorable race. "It's an unusual track, peppered with difficult spots and fantastic chicanes," Seb says. We have the exact same idea. To October 30, 2011 then!