Webber groans after seeing longer Bahrain layout

Mark Webber groaned after taking in Bahrain’s revised layout on Wednesday.

Like Fernando Alonso who cycled the new 900 metre section on a mountain bike – and Heikki Kovalainen, Robert Kubica, Lucas di Resta and Robert Kubica who sampled it on foot – the drivers were keen to discover if it added a new challenge to the venue of the 2010 season opener.

“Nothing but tight corners,” Australian Webber concluded.  “Accelerate, brake, accelerate, brake …”

His Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel admitted: “I would have preferred a couple of fast corners.”

But track designer Hermann Tilke is not taking the blame for the extra eight bends.

“This loop has been around for years.  It was designed for long distance races to accommodate more cars,” he told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

It is believed the longer layout will bring the average lap time close to 2 minutes, which will exaggerate the expected gap between the fastest and slowest cars.

© RIF|GMM