'Indian GP track will help drivers overtake'

Greater Noida: The Buddh International Circuit will help drivers overtake but they need to learn where that works and how effective the Drag Reduction System (DRS) will be for the October 28-30 Indian Grand Prix, BMW-Sauber F1 technical director James Key says.

"The track itself looks pretty interesting, as it has one long straight and a fairly high downforce requirement in some of the winding bits at the back," Key said in a statement.

"The track is not unlike other new circuits. There seem to be some overtaking opportunities, but the drivers need to learn where that works and how effective the DRS is. The downforce level is most likely similar to recent events," Key added.

He said the track is fairly much unknown to everyone, apart from using the simulation.

"You never really know what to expect until you are there. Like South Korea last year, at a brand new track we expect that things like the evolution of grip will be quite significant over the weekend. This will influence the balance of the car, and you will possibly have to change the downforce level," he said.

Key said the team's performance in South Korea last weekend, where they finished 15th and 16th, was below expectations.

"After our performance in Korea was clearly below our own expectations, we analysed all the data carefully and came to the conclusion that we underestimated the limitation on the front axle and front tyres. As a result we suffered from too much understeer, which resulted in overloading the front tyres," he said.

Key said the team is thinking of racing on hard tyres.

"We will have the soft and the hard tyre compound there. It's quite some time since we ran the hard compound, so we'll have to see how that goes. A lot depends on track temperatures, but given the nature of the track with several highly loaded corners, it could be that the hard tyre will warm up okay and last. Maybe the soft will struggle, but you never really know until you're there.

"On the car we will have some small modifications to the rear wings and some small updates on the front wing," Key added.