29/05/2018
NEWS STORY
While the race has yet to be agreed by FOM and the definitive track layout confirmed, an enthusiast has put together a simulated lap of the Miami F1 track based on the layout issued by Miami City Commissioner, Ken Russell, earlier this month.
"This is a lap in the 2015 Ferrari on supersofts managing a 1:22," explains sim creator Jack Shepherd. "With the current F1 cars and drivers, plus the track rubbering in and ultrasofts, the lap times should be about the same as Canada I'd presume.
"I have thrown together an AI that is raceable and some track cameras for replays," he adds. The environment is gathered from Google's API with low quality buildings added and simple trees where trees and buildings would be, but not particularly accurate.
"The road surface even has bumps from where I've poorly joined track segments, but it is driveable and demonstrates the layout.
"Each street is exactly where the roads are paved in real life, however I have no idea where the FIA intend placing kerbs and barriers etc, so I can't know how close this layout would be to the actual circuit but it gives a gist of the speeds you'd expect to be involved.
"The bridge section is abysmal and boring and would be your typical DRS zone, but the rest of the circuit isn't too bad. It does feel a bit V8 supercar, not F1 though."
Many thanks to Racedepartment.com for their help with this and for giving us the various permissions.
{youtube 9F650fat2rk 560x315}
As Jack says, the bridge section in particular is uninspiring, especially in the wake of the bore that was Monaco. Furthermore, the length and width of the bridge must surely raise concerns in terms of safety, and how quickly emergency crews could be deployed in the event of an accident. As for Jack's own "bumps", which he fully explains, there have already been concerns raised over the expansion points on the bridge.