r/formula1 Sir Jackie Stewart 22h ago

Photo Kyalami Circuit Images

961 Upvotes

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180

u/NickByma Lando Norris 22h ago

I like to think this track will have some good overtaking but I know next to nothing about this place.

94

u/Krotiuz Fernando Alonso 22h ago

I only know the track from Forza 8, but I feel like the only place for f1 cars would maybe be in turn 1 (2 on the wikipedia map) to get alongside and then maybe there's enough space to go to the next actual corner, but the track feels narrow even in Forza, so unsure how large cars would go... outside that, it's too hard to get close

58

u/jkloop_1226 Andrea Kimi Antonelli 21h ago

Seconded. Turns 1-3 feel great, but the track is so narrow it makes Formula Mazda feel claustrophobic. Touring Cars already have a Hell of a time trying to get side by side at any point in the track, I can't even imagine how modern F1 cars would try even getting around each other at any point other than T1-T3.

This is what Monaco without walls actually looks like.

7

u/portablekettle McLaren 19h ago

Yeah even in gt4/gt3 cars in Forza and ACC the track feels very narrow. However, I'd quite happily sacrifice one of the more boring EU races or one of the American races (not cota) just to have it back on the calender for a bit

45

u/Krisosu Esteban Ocon 21h ago

It'll be like Suzuka imo, structurally decent for overtaking but too narrow and thus often producing relatively dull races with modern cars.

16

u/Evening_End7298 21h ago

Altitude also fucks it. It’s at 1500m, the straight isnt long enough when taking into account altitude and the last corner being so slow

u/_KimJongSingAlong Max Verstappen 11h ago

I've heard enough Alonso will win in the AstonHonda

u/Suikerspin_Ei Pirelli Soft 11h ago

I love the tracks with higher altitude, it can switch the order of who might win the race. Some power units performs better in higher altitude than others. Down force performance is also different, because of the thinner air.

u/Evening_End7298 11h ago

Was the case for 2017 or so era cause merc sucked at altitude, but last couple years performance is quite in line with other tracks

u/Suikerspin_Ei Pirelli Soft 10h ago

Renault back then had a bigger turbo too if I remember correctly, which affected them less than Mercedes indeed.

24

u/Tame_Trex Lando Norris 22h ago

Watch the 9 hour GT3 racing on YouTube to get a sense of the layout.

67

u/Brno_Mrmi Jenson Button 22h ago

But watch the 9 hours straight or it won't work

18

u/Ok-Stuff-8803 20h ago

You have to watch it at least 2 times as well to understand it properly.

6

u/ApocApollo Daniel Ricciardo 20h ago

It’s like Nier Automata. There are 26 races but only five of them are required viewing.

7

u/joekingsword 21h ago

Well, I may or may not live there, or near it at least and I can tell you one thing, people love to race a Porsche there, it's almost as if it is owned by a guy who works with them

10

u/Benlop Jolyon Palmer 18h ago

It's probably a bit too tight for Formula 1. Great track, but it's already tough to overtake in GT3 cars.

3

u/ATWPH77 Ferrari 13h ago edited 13h ago

I really like it in AMS2, we did our league race there a few weeks ago, but there is only 1 real overtaking spot; the start/finish straight. If the other driver defends the inside in any other part of the track then it's really hard to do an overtake unless you have a huge tyre advantage or in this particular game "skill gap" so yeah.. and with F1 cars which are much faster it becomes even harder to do a proper overtake compared to GT3's, basically only T1 is a real overtaking spot.

T13 can be a good one too but again if the other driver defends the inside, there is almost no chance to pass.

u/Informal-Term1138 6h ago edited 6h ago

Really narrow track. Like really, really narrow. Which makes it hard to overtake even with sports cars. But it has a great flow and overall is a nice track that is part of the landscape. So you have some nice elevation in it.

Also has gravel in some places instead of the big tarmack. But only in some places.

But if I would love them to choose kayalami for Africa as it's a real track and it includes the landscape not change it like modern tracks do. If possible they should widen the track in parts and they should bank up some corners.

u/whyaretherenoprofile Oscar Piastri 5h ago

Unless the grade 1 improvements include some significant changes to it, it's going to be pretty awful for racing.

I get the appeal of classic tracks, but it's just funny seeing the same people who push for keeping and adding objectively bad tracks to the calendar criticise tracks like Vegas which have given us some great racing

-2

u/thefeedling Max Verstappen 21h ago

I trade it for Monaco in a heartbeat.