Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix organisers attempted a second time overnight to resurface the track’s problematic Turn 17.
The FIA has also opted to replace the two kerbs at the pit entry’s left/right chicane with bollards, as part of another alteration.
After the safety car and VIP laps, problems with the track surface surface initially surfaced on Thursday, prior to any proper circuit action.
Both Turn 17, the hairpin before the start/finish straight, and Turn 7, the narrowing left-hander on the fake marina’s outside, showed signs of damage.
Both incidents were thought to be caused by a known difficulty with the surfacing procedure at those specific locations, thus there was no concern that other areas of the track would be affected.
On Thursday night, the problematic portions were resurfaced in time for Friday’s practise session.
On Friday night, however, it was decided to try again to resurface Turn 17, as well as do some further work on the exit of the corner that had not been done previously.
“The apex and the exit of turn 17 have been resurfaced,” Niels Wittich reported in an updated version of his race director’s notes issued to teams on Saturday morning.
Before the weekend, the pit entry chicane, with its two tight corners, was a topic of debate. The 80km/h speed limit was originally imposed after the chicane and at the start of the main pitlane in the F1 timing loop system.
Following track inspections on Thursday, Wittich determined that the start of the speed restriction area should be shifted back to right before the chicane for safety reasons, requiring cars to brake and come down to the limit before turning left.
However, there were still concerns about safety and the possibility of a driver colliding with the kerbs and being driven into the pitwall on the left, especially when racing.
It was decided to remove the kerbs before Saturday’s track action after a discussion in the drivers’ briefing.
“The kerbs at pit entry have been removed and replaced with a bollard at each apex,” Wittich wrote in his notes.
