Spa is going to look significantly different this year!

[dans79]

they could've solved Spa with a nice big gravel trap there. but no lets keep adding run off areas so people can go off track and just come back on and continue, unpunished.

In both the photo and the video, it looks like rumble stips to the left, so if you go off, you are probably coming back on with missing bits of front wing, floor, or diffuser.

[wogx]

they could've solved Spa with a nice big gravel trap there. but no lets keep adding run off areas so people can go off track and just come back on and continue, unpunished.

Did you saw the barrell roll made by Alonso's McLaren in Australian GP 2016, when he slid sideways into a gravel trap?

[AeroDynamic]

they could've solved Spa with a nice big gravel trap there. but no lets keep adding run off areas so people can go off track and just come back on and continue, unpunished.

Did you saw the barrell roll made by Alonso's McLaren in Australian GP 2016, when he slid sideways into a gravel trap?

Thats got nothing to do with the gravel. He took out his own wheels on his own and his car went sideways and was already capsizing on the way to the gravel.

Look what Max's car did in Monza, should we not use sausage kerbs anymore? Drivers need to take responsibility for their driving.

[vorticism]

If there was something like a one-way kerb you could drive over it and crash in the tire barrier, but maybe bouncing back on to the track would be prevented. Like a spike strip except shaped like a tall ramp. Or maybe even just use spikes as long as they're not a hazard, they could hook onto components of a disabled car heading back toward the track.

[wogx]

Thats got nothing to do with the gravel. He took out his own wheels on his own and his car went sideways and was already capsizing on the way to the gravel.

Of course it got - gravel is a loose surface, as is grass. Look at Ericsson's Monza roll - the edge of floor hooked into the loose surface, causing the roll. Both cars would probably just slid sideways, if there were asphalt runoffs

[izzy]

Still, for all that work they only seem to have helped a small minority of scenarios. Of course at the top they have the hillside falling away on the right, which limits the runoff.

Edit: okay if I'm seeing it right they have been extending that right-side runoff too:
https://cdn-9.motorsport.com/images/mgl ... rk-i-1.jpg

The topography of that section of the track has really limited their ability to make it safer without a substantial expenditure.

I think The Hubert crash basically lead to some back door conversations, that amounted to little more than you will loose the race if you don't fix this.

After all the incident was triggered by Alessi losing it and going off to the left and then he and debrief getting shot back onto the racing line. Boschung & Hubert went right to avoid him and everyone knows what happened after that!

Yes poor Hubert, and such a basic unfixable problem that drivers can't see over the crest as they come up the hill.

[wogx]

It could be fixable - we need a camera + 2-3 big screens, which will show what's going on behind the hill. Something like Samsung's concept



The question is - would it be safe in a place like Eau Rouge/Radillon section? Some drivers said in the past that they used those big screens, which were showing TV coverage, to optimize their race

[Hoffman900]

the irony about increasing safety obsessively, is you make the drivers feel more comfortable to take more risks. If somebody crashes at Monaco, do we change that too? these tracks have been fine for such a long time.

Jeddah definitely has some dangerous blind spots but changing the final corner didn't make much sense to me, it proved a healthy challenge to take the corner and keep it out the wall.

they could've solved Spa with a nice big gravel trap there. but no lets keep adding run off areas so people can go off track and just come back on and continue, unpunished.

I’m going to disagree with you there. I have personally witnessed four fatal crashes at race tracks. I don’t need to see any more and the fact they could increase runoff without changing the corner doesn’t change the challenge at all.

If someone is that far off the track surface, they are losing positions, if they don’t hit the wall. It just removes the wall that pushes cars back out into traffic. T-bone accidents don’t really add to the racing show for me, personally.

I’d hope someone who has Ayrton Senna as an avatar can see that…

[Just_a_fan]

They are adding gravel on the outside of no-name corner and the outside of Pouhon. The former will stop people taking the mickey on exit, so that's a good thing, and won't likely make an off in to a nasty one. At Pouhon, I wonder about how good gravel is if someone spins on entry and ends up hitting the gravel sideways at 250km/h. That's got a huge barrel roll written all over it. The gravel is better for the motorbike guys, however, which might be why they've added it there. I think they're also adding gravel on the outside of left hander at the top of Raidillon - that's the one that Hubert came back across. Having gavel there makes sense as someone is likely already well out of control if they're out there.

The work to the outside of Raidillon has also resulted in a big grandstand which is great to see - that's going to give some great views from La Source all the way up in to the Kemmel.

[Just_a_fan]

I do smile at the people saying "we need more racing between drivers" and also saying "drivers need to be punished for making mistakes". If you want drivers to fight - and that generally means in the vicinity of the corners - then you have to give them room to be able to make a small error (or even being forced off line by the other driver) without then immediately being taken out of the race.

[DiogoBrand]

Raidillon was fairly easy to cut at the top as it was already. The only thing that's going to change is that now if someone goes straight at the bottom they won't crash straight into a wall and be thrown at the path of incoming drivers. The circuit is not going to change, and if anything, it will extend the life of this legendary sequence of corners even further.

If you only enjoy motorsport when you know the drivers' lives are at risk, then you're all free to watch other sports.

[Just_a_fan]

If you only enjoy motorsport when you know the drivers' lives are at risk, then you're all free to watch other sports.

Agreed. Never understood the idea that motorsport has to have a risk to life to be meaningful.

But then I've never understood the attraction of boxing either.

[vorticism]

It's good that the track itself wasn't altered. Just a new tire wall location and some stands. That said, part of the thrill of Eau Rouge-Radillion was the proximity of the wall zooming by at the upper apex. I wonder how that will seem now.

Agreed. Never understood the idea that motorsport has to have a risk to life to be meaningful.

But then I've never understood the attraction of boxing either.

Every driver jumped into a car pre-halo era. And pre roll hoop era. And pre crash structure era. And pre seat belts era. Etc. I think it's coming more from teams and organizers who have more to lose financially and may be more risk averse than your average racing driver.

[Just_a_fan]

Every driver jumped into a car pre-halo era. And pre roll hoop era. And pre crash structure era. And pre seat belts era. Etc. I think it's coming more from teams and organizers who have more to lose financially and may be more risk averse than your average racing driver.

The drivers themselves ask for safety changes today, so it's not just the organisations being liability averse.

I don't understand why some spectators are happy, or even desire, to see drivers get injured or killed.

[AeroDynamic]

I'm all for safety improvement, I just don't see what this specific corner in Jeddah has that is dangerous? There were other aspects of the circuit that seemed dangerous that could be improved. They're not extending a set of tyres or anything, the wall is still there, the track limit is just a bit wider, not the run off area. So drivers can take the corner faster? Maybe you have less chance of clipping the wall now? Maybe we should extend the track width where Leclerc and Verstappen found the wall in Monaco in recent years?

Its low resolution thinking to assume that enjoying the challenge for drivers to judge their corners as they find time equates to wanting to see drivers risks of getting seriously hurt. Maybe I'd like to see the sport explore increased safety without adding massive run off -tarmac areas everywhere?