Autódromo do Estoril
Encyclopedia
The Autódromo do Estoril (officially, Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva) is a race course in Portugal
, owned by state-run holding management company Parpública
. Its length is 4.182 km (2.599 mi). It was the home of the Formula One
Portuguese Grand Prix
from 1984 to 1996.
Its first years saw many national races, as well as an occasional Formula 2 race. However, the course soon fell into disrepair due to the owning company having been taken over by the state between 1975–78, and a significant redevelopment effort was needed before international motorsport
returned in 1984.
Estoril became a popular event on the F1 calendar, the setting for many well-known moments including Niki Lauda
winning the championship, his third and final, from McLaren
team mate Alain Prost
by just half a point by finishing second to Prost at the 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix
. Three times world champion Ayrton Senna
's first F1 win in 1985
, Nigel Mansell
's notorious black flag incident and subsequent collision with Senna in 1989
, Jacques Villeneuve
's overtaking Michael Schumacher
around the outside of the final turn in 1996
, and Riccardo Patrese
's being launched airborne in a near-backward flip after colliding with Gerhard Berger
on the main straight in 1992
.
Estoril was dropped from the F1 calendar for the 1997 season
, though it continued to play host to top-level single-seater, sports car and touring car events, including the FIA GT Championship
, the DTM
and the World Series by Renault
. A new redesign of the parabolica turn which saw its length reduced to 4.182 km (2.599 mi) was implemented in 2000 in order to obtain FIM
homologation.
On September 3, 2000, the Autódromo do Estoril held its first Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix
, an event held annually. On October 23, 2005, the circuit hosted the third round of the first ever A1 Grand Prix
racing season, with both races in the event being won by the French
team.
The track's main open-wheel racing series is now the Superleague Formula
series which has hosted events at the track in 2008, 2009 and an event has been confirmed for 2010.
near the village of Alcabideche
, 9 km from the city of Estoril
, the beach resort lending its name to the circuit. The course has two hairpin turns, noticeable elevation changes, and a long start/finish straight. Its original perimeter was 4.35 km (2.703 mi).
Throughout the years, Estoril has had numerous problems with safety, failing safety inspections on more than one occasion. After the death of Ayrton Senna at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix
, a chicane was added which increased the circuit length to 4.36 km (2.709 mi). Estoril sometimes has high crosswind
s, which remind many of its Spanish
counterpart, the Circuit de Catalunya
which also has a similar layout. Many teams were fond of using Estoril for winter testing.
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, owned by state-run holding management company Parpública
Parpública
Parpública, officially Participações Públicas S.A., operates as a state-run management holding company of the Portuguese Republic. The company is based in Lisbon, Portugal. Among its major assets are TAP Portugal, ANA - Aeroportos de Portugal, Águas de Portugal, Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda,...
. Its length is 4.182 km (2.599 mi). It was the home of the Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
Portuguese Grand Prix
Portuguese Grand Prix
The Portuguese Grand Prix was a motorsports event held for several years, mostly in the 1950s and then in the 1980s and 90s. It was a Formula One race between and and between and ....
from 1984 to 1996.
Its first years saw many national races, as well as an occasional Formula 2 race. However, the course soon fell into disrepair due to the owning company having been taken over by the state between 1975–78, and a significant redevelopment effort was needed before international motorsport
Motorsport
Motorsport or motorsports is the group of sports which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles, whether for racing or non-racing competition...
returned in 1984.
Estoril became a popular event on the F1 calendar, the setting for many well-known moments including Niki Lauda
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver and three-time F1 World Champion. More recently an aviation entrepreneur, he has founded and run two airlines and was manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years.- Early years in racing :Born in Vienna,...
winning the championship, his third and final, from McLaren
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...
team mate Alain Prost
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost, OBE, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur is a French racing driver. A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, Prost has won more titles than any driver except for Juan Manuel Fangio , and Michael Schumacher . From 1987 until 2001 Prost held the record for most Grand Prix...
by just half a point by finishing second to Prost at the 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix
1984 Portuguese Grand Prix
The 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Estoril on October 21, 1984. It was the sixteenth and final round of the 1984 Formula One season...
. Three times world champion Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...
's first F1 win in 1985
1985 Portuguese Grand Prix
The 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held in Estoril on April 21, 1985. It was the second round of the 1985 Formula One season and was won by Ayrton Senna from pole position, taking both his first pole position and win in the process....
, Nigel Mansell
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell OBE is a British racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the CART Indy Car World Series...
's notorious black flag incident and subsequent collision with Senna in 1989
1989 Portuguese Grand Prix
The 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at the Autódromo do Estoril on September 24, 1989. This race resulted in Onyx's only podium , the only lap ever led by a Minardi, and saw 10 different teams in the top 10....
, Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve, , is a Canadian musician and automobile racing driver. He is the son of the late Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve, and is the namesake of his uncle...
's overtaking Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
around the outside of the final turn in 1996
1996 Portuguese Grand Prix
The 1996 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on September 22, 1996 at Autódromo do Estoril in Estoril, Portugal. Jacques Villeneuve won the race by overtaking Michael Schumacher on the outside while the latter was distracted by the slow moving back-marking Minardi of Giovanni Lavaggi,...
, and Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Gabriele Patrese is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and the first to achieve 250 starts at the 1993 German Grand Prix...
's being launched airborne in a near-backward flip after colliding with Gerhard Berger
Gerhard Berger
Gerhard Berger, is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver, who previously owned 50% of the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One team until he sold his share back to energy drink owner Dietrich Mateschitz in November 2008....
on the main straight in 1992
1992 Portuguese Grand Prix
The 1992 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Autódromo do Estoril on September 27, 1992. It was the fourteenth round of the 1992 Formula One season. Nigel Mansell won the race, breaking the record for most wins in one season. However, the race is best remembered for the...
.
Estoril was dropped from the F1 calendar for the 1997 season
1997 Formula One season
The 1997 Formula One season was the 48th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 9, 1997, and ended on October 26 after seventeen races.-Season summary:...
, though it continued to play host to top-level single-seater, sports car and touring car events, including the FIA GT Championship
FIA GT Championship
The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout the years has visited other continents including Asia and South...
, the DTM
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is a touring car racing series based in Germany, but also with rounds elsewhere in Europe....
and the World Series by Renault
World Series by Renault
The World Series by Renault, formerly the World Series by Nissan from 1998 to 2004, is a motor racing series. The series consists of the flagship Formula Renault 3.5 Series , the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and the Eurocup Mégane Trophy...
. A new redesign of the parabolica turn which saw its length reduced to 4.182 km (2.599 mi) was implemented in 2000 in order to obtain FIM
Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme
The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme is the governing body of motorcycle racing. It represents 103 national motorcycle federations that are divided into six regional continental unions....
homologation.
On September 3, 2000, the Autódromo do Estoril held its first Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix
Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix
The Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season.The event was held twice in the 1980s in Spanish circuits. It returned to Portugal after the Estoril Circuit was homologated for international motorcycle racing.-Multiple winners...
, an event held annually. On October 23, 2005, the circuit hosted the third round of the first ever A1 Grand Prix
A1 Grand Prix
A1 Grand Prix was a 'single make' open-wheel auto racing series. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most formula racing series. As such, it was often promoted as the "World Cup of Motorsport"...
racing season, with both races in the event being won by the French
A1 Team France
A1 Team France is the French team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the inaugural season, 2005-06.- Management :A1 Team France's owner is Jean-Paul Driot...
team.
The track's main open-wheel racing series is now the Superleague Formula
Superleague Formula
Superleague Formula is an open wheel single seater motor racing formula, which started in 2008, at Donington Park in the United Kingdom. The league introduced team sponsorship by association football clubs. It goes by the saying 'The Beautiful Race: Football at 300 km/h'. By 2011 the link with...
series which has hosted events at the track in 2008, 2009 and an event has been confirmed for 2010.
The circuit
The Estoril circuit was built in 1972 on a rocky plateauPlateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
near the village of Alcabideche
Alcabideche
Alcabideche is a parish located in the Portuguese municipality of Cascais. It has a population of 31,801 and an area of 39,76 km².-External links:*...
, 9 km from the city of Estoril
Estoril
Estoril is a seaside resort and civil parish of the Portuguese municipality of Cascais, Lisboa District. The Estoril coast is close to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. It starts in Carcavelos, 15 kilometres from Lisbon, and stretches as far as Guincho, often known as Costa de Estoril-Sintra or...
, the beach resort lending its name to the circuit. The course has two hairpin turns, noticeable elevation changes, and a long start/finish straight. Its original perimeter was 4.35 km (2.703 mi).
Throughout the years, Estoril has had numerous problems with safety, failing safety inspections on more than one occasion. After the death of Ayrton Senna at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix
1994 San Marino Grand Prix
The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on May 1, 1994 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy. It was the third race of the 1994 Formula One season...
, a chicane was added which increased the circuit length to 4.36 km (2.709 mi). Estoril sometimes has high crosswind
Crosswind
A crosswind is any wind that has a perpendicular component to the line or direction of travel. In aviation, a crosswind is the component of wind that is blowing across the runway making landings and take-offs more difficult than if the wind were blowing straight down the runway...
s, which remind many of its Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
counterpart, the Circuit de Catalunya
Circuit de Catalunya
The Circuit de Catalunya is a racetrack in Montmeló, to the north of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit.-History:...
which also has a similar layout. Many teams were fond of using Estoril for winter testing.