A race track is composed of layers. The first is the bearing layer, above that is the binding layer and on top the wearing layer – exactly as for normal road construction. The bearing layer consists of a thick layer of coarse, watertight asphalt. The binding layer is applied on top of this foundation and serves to smooth out the natural unevenness of the bearing layer and secure the wearing layer above. Depending on weather and maintenance, the service life of a race track surface is between five and 10 years.

When selecting the materials for the asphalt – a mixture of stones and bitumen. The German Hermann Tilke, who designed the new circuits in Bahrain, Shanghai and Istanbul, usually selects the best stone from quarries in the local vicinity. He then has the stone examined for suitability, as well as for wear and grip, in a test laboratory. The so-called “Lord of the Rings” is not always satisfied with the results: the stones for the Bahrain International Circuit’s track surface had to be imported to the desert state from Wales at great expense.

As much as the surfaces of race tracks and standard roads may be similar, the stresses acting on them could hardly be more different. On a normal road, the greatest load is caused by the sort of weight when, for instance, a 30-tonne juggernaut brakes. On race tracks, the effects are the exact opposite. The hot tyres of the race cars develop an adhesive quality similar to tough chewing gum and pull the stones upwards. A tremendous strain is also created by the high speeds, which cause intense pressure in front of the cars and a vacuum behind them. Tilke describes the effects: “For the asphalt, this is as if someone was pounding it with a hammer at the front and hoovering it at the back.”

In everyday traffic, the road surface also has a strong influence on the tyres’ grip. This applies to the adhesion in dry conditions, but even more so to wet roads, where the so-called “macro roughness” determines how quickly a film of water builds up. “The important thing is that drivers are not taken by surprise by unexpected changes in the grip of the road surface which might be caused by ruts in the road, patched asphalt or old or damaged road sections,” says Dr Christoph Lauterwasser of the Allianz Center for Technology (AZT). “By the same token, dangerous spots can also be made safer by the targeted, localised application of high-grip asphalt layers. This is suitable ahead of pedestrian crossings, at crossroads or on motorway ramps, for example.”

In Formula 1, the question of how aggressive the track surface is to the tyres depends not only on the speeds driven and the number of braking operations, but also on the microstructure of the materials used. Tyre wear is particularly high at Barcelona and Monza, and is comparatively low on the slow city track in Monaco. Particularly good levels of grip are provided at Malaysia, Barcelona, Hockenheim and Suzuka, while the tracks at Melbourne, Imola, Budapest and the Nürburgring provide the poorest grip. Frank Dernie appreciates the varied conditions and levels of difficulty. “It would be terrible if all race tracks were the same,” the Williams F1 Team veteran says. “Formula 1 is the class. Good drivers and good cars have to be fast wherever they’re racing.”

In the case of the Autodromo José Carlos Pace, also known as Interlagos, the host track for the Brazilian Grand Prix, the grip level and tyre wear are both relatively low. From that perspective, the circuit, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, is not so different from the normal roads of this city of millions – except that it probably doesn’t have quite as many potholes.

Allianz Safety Check: Autodromo José Carlos Pace by WilliamsF1 Team driver Mark Webber:

“Two things immediately come to mind concerning this circuit. First of all, the bad surface which, despite all the organisers’ protestations, never really gets any better, and secondly that it’s one of the three circuits in Formula 1 that’s driven anti-clockwise. Of course, the resulting uncustomary strain on our neck muscles is the lesser problem: the many bumps are worse. They can be dangerous, especially in the corners, where the impacts destabilise the cars during braking and result in a loss of traction.”