The headline here is just some driver musing. The better quote from this article is probably "According to Motorsport.com, the paint believed to be coating the Chinese GP is actually a "bitumen...
The headline here is just some driver musing. The better quote from this article is probably "According to Motorsport.com, the paint believed to be coating the Chinese GP is actually a "bitumen surface treatment" that's commonly used on Chinese roads (and even in the U.S.) for sealing and waterproofing. " That quote in the title (which again, is just some rando musing) is the only part of the article that even tries to imply the surface wasn't resurfaced.
I.e. this is a racist article trying to fuel a stereotype of Chinese things being inferior to their western counterparts.
Complaints about track issues are common, and this is an extreme reach. It wasn't racist to call the surface in Istanbul poor, or complain about the surface at Circuit of the Americas, or complain...
Bitumen surface treatment is not "resurfacing", despite having "surface" in the name. It's just a thin sealant/waterproofing top coat that is essentially painted onto roads. Ever see those...
Bitumen surface treatment is not "resurfacing", despite having "surface" in the name. It's just a thin sealant/waterproofing top coat that is essentially painted onto roads. Ever see those darker/shinier lines on roads? Those are bitumen patch jobs to prevent water from seeping into cracks in the asphalt.
However, bitumen surface treatments are not commonly used on race tracks, AFAIK, since that makes the track a lot slipperier, especially when it gets wet.... And because it's also apparently only been applied to certain sections of the Chinese Grand Prix track the drivers are understandably worried it could make those sections of track behave inconsistently, and be more dangerous as a result.
The drivers are not the only people worried about it though, Pirelli, F1's official tire supplier has stated they're not happy about the situation either. F1 is dangerous enough as it is, even without that extra concern to worry about, so racism has nothing to do with this.
BTW, actual "resurfacing" is when they remove the top few inches of asphalt, and then lay fresh asphalt on top. My BiL's Late Model race track does it every few years. But apparently it's common in F1 and a bunch of other higher speed / higher risk motosports (like Moto GP) to resurface tracks every year.
p.s. And just to distinguish things further, repaving is when they dig everything up, put down new substrate, re-grade it all, and then lay fresh asphalt on top. That only needs to be done every 10-15 years on stock car racing tracks, but I have no idea how often they do it on F1 tracks.
Well, no, it's a sentiment shared by top drivers mentioned in the article. My takeaway is that while it might be common to treat roads with bitumen, it's a different story for race tracks. Either...
The headline here is just some driver musing
Well, no, it's a sentiment shared by top drivers mentioned in the article. My takeaway is that while it might be common to treat roads with bitumen, it's a different story for race tracks.
Either way it's sub optimal to have what's a potentially slippery coating on the track, especially when it's already worn and inconsistently coated.
I.e. this is a racist article
This is an overreaction, considering whatever it is they did to the track, doesn't seem to be very common. They're all caught off guard by this process.
That’s not what I’m getting from this article. It’s not a resurface, which is bad on its own, but what’s more: This is all amateur hour and you’d expect better from a F1 track.
That’s not what I’m getting from this article. It’s not a resurface, which is bad on its own, but what’s more:
I think it looks a bit inconsistent. That inconsistency is what I worry about the most—the inconsistency from entry to mid-corner to exit in each corner. If it's variable, that's going to be pretty tricky.
This is all amateur hour and you’d expect better from a F1 track.
The headline here is just some driver musing. The better quote from this article is probably "According to Motorsport.com, the paint believed to be coating the Chinese GP is actually a "bitumen surface treatment" that's commonly used on Chinese roads (and even in the U.S.) for sealing and waterproofing. " That quote in the title (which again, is just some rando musing) is the only part of the article that even tries to imply the surface wasn't resurfaced.
I.e. this is a racist article trying to fuel a stereotype of Chinese things being inferior to their western counterparts.
Complaints about track issues are common, and this is an extreme reach. It wasn't racist to call the surface in Istanbul poor, or complain about the surface at Circuit of the Americas, or complain about the surface at Miami.
Bitumen surface treatment is not "resurfacing", despite having "surface" in the name. It's just a thin sealant/waterproofing top coat that is essentially painted onto roads. Ever see those darker/shinier lines on roads? Those are bitumen patch jobs to prevent water from seeping into cracks in the asphalt.
However, bitumen surface treatments are not commonly used on race tracks, AFAIK, since that makes the track a lot slipperier, especially when it gets wet.... And because it's also apparently only been applied to certain sections of the Chinese Grand Prix track the drivers are understandably worried it could make those sections of track behave inconsistently, and be more dangerous as a result.
The drivers are not the only people worried about it though, Pirelli, F1's official tire supplier has stated they're not happy about the situation either. F1 is dangerous enough as it is, even without that extra concern to worry about, so racism has nothing to do with this.
BTW, actual "resurfacing" is when they remove the top few inches of asphalt, and then lay fresh asphalt on top. My BiL's Late Model race track does it every few years. But apparently it's common in F1 and a bunch of other higher speed / higher risk motosports (like Moto GP) to resurface tracks every year.
p.s. And just to distinguish things further, repaving is when they dig everything up, put down new substrate, re-grade it all, and then lay fresh asphalt on top. That only needs to be done every 10-15 years on stock car racing tracks, but I have no idea how often they do it on F1 tracks.
Well, no, it's a sentiment shared by top drivers mentioned in the article. My takeaway is that while it might be common to treat roads with bitumen, it's a different story for race tracks.
Either way it's sub optimal to have what's a potentially slippery coating on the track, especially when it's already worn and inconsistently coated.
This is an overreaction, considering whatever it is they did to the track, doesn't seem to be very common. They're all caught off guard by this process.
That’s not what I’m getting from this article. It’s not a resurface, which is bad on its own, but what’s more:
This is all amateur hour and you’d expect better from a F1 track.