The main area of concern appears to be Turn 17, the left-hand hairpin that precedes the final corners leading to the finish straight. There was also a problem with turn 7, a narrowing left-hander that is located next to the now famous false port.
On Thursday afternoon, some small damage was evident in turn 17, a couple of meters outside the apex and located more or less in the line that the outside wheels of the single-seaters take, the ones that suffer the most in said section.
The curious thing about all this is that the damage appeared before any racing car rolled around the circuit, since until now only the safety car and the medical car have passed over that asphalt, as well as the trucks, buses and cranes that have participated in the construction of the layout.
It is understood that in both areas there was a specific problem that arose at the time the surface was placed and that would be the cause. The organizers believe that the problem areas are localized and trust “that there are no problems in the rest of the track.”
The resurfacing work was completed on Friday morning, before free practice that will kick off the first Miami Grand Prix in F1 history.
Under the supervision of the designers of the Miami layout, Apex , the paving of the circuit required 24,000 tons of asphalt, which was placed in almost 78,000 meters on three lanes, constructing a track with an average width of 50 feet (about 15 meters). .
Asphalt specialists R3, who have already worked on many Formula 1 circuits around the world, designed a mixture with 60% granite quarried in Georgia and the rest limestone from South Florida. Bitumen, which is a viscous mixture of hydrocarbons, was used to connect or bind the aggregates.
Once in place, the surface bitumen was removed to texturize the surface, opening it up to achieve the levels of grip required by Pirelli ‘s demanding F1 tyres.
The FIA required that the tarmac be laid at least 60 days before race weekend, and that deadline was met despite work surrounding multiple other events at the stadium, including the football season finale. of the NFL, a jazz music festival and the ‘Miami Open’ tennis tournament.
