[Mboxmaja]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/61853

By Jonathan Noble Monday, August 27th 2007, 18:43 GMT


Formula One drivers have won their battle for safety modifications at Monza's second chicane, just a fortnight ahead of this year's Italian Grand Prix, autosport.com can reveal.

The Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) issued a statement immediately after the 2006 race stating they were unhappy that their calls for safety improvements at the high-speed track had been ignored despite a seven-year campaign.

Matters reached a head when circuit representatives failed to attend a meeting with the drivers at the track to discuss the situation.

In the GPDA statement issued after the race, the drivers called for the track owners to at the very least replace the gravel trap at the second chicane with an asphalt run-off area.

Discussions to find a solution that would appease the drivers' concerns have been ongoing since then, and the GPDA has now been officially told of improvements that will be made at the corner.

Although the drivers' ultimate hopes of a reprofiling of the chicane to make it a right, left flick, have not been realised, track owners have agreed to replace the gravel trap with an asphalt run-off area.

Jarno Trulli, who has played a key role in the Monza discussions, confirmed to autosport.com that the drivers have been informed of changes to the track.

"I spoke with the Monza director at the weekend, and at the second chicane the gravel trap has been resurfaced, so it will be asphalt," he said. "Already, that is a good step ahead."

Several drivers have welcomed the change, which they hope will allow cars to scrub off more speed if they spin off at the corner.

"Anything that improves safety has got to be a good thing," David Coulthard told autosport.com. "It is a fact that tarmac slows the car down quicker than gravel. The old theory of digging into gravel is fine, but what happens with these flat bottom cars is that they bounce over the gravel."

Despite backing the change, however, Coulthard believes that the GPDA should continue to campaign for changes to the corner - either by eventually reprofiling it or replacing the high kerbs.

"The asphalt is a step in the right direction, but they may need to do something else. Even if there were different kerbs.

"What is the problem with running over a flat kerb if you know you get a penalty if you go too far? Having those (high) kerbs, I think they can damage your suspension. You can go through the two Lesmos and not know about it until you run down to Ascari at 200mph."

The Monza track owners have had difficulty trying to make major changes to the track layout, however, because the trees near the corner are protected by law as part of Monza's park, so cannot be cut down.

Alex Wurz added: "The asphalt is an improvement if that is the case, but it needs something else to be honest. It is a cool chicane, I like it to drive, but the way you drive it with these cars is too aggressive. You are always asking for it to damage material and then you are asking for a high-speed crash.

"I think they have to come up with a better solution at one point. We know they have problems with the trees, so it is not easy, but it would be good if we could find a compromise."

It is believed that the drivers will inspect the changes during this week's pre-Italian Grand Prix test at Monza, which starts on Tuesday.



I think its a load of s*&^ that they want the kurbs replaced because they punish the driver for riding them. They know they risk damaged suspension if the ride the kurbs, and yet they ride the kurbs and complain anyway.
To me thats part of the challenge of being a racing driver, knowing when to take risks. Several GPDA members come off as whingers who can't accept that there is risks involved in motor racing. IMO.

[DoctorDulitlBest]

I have to agree about the kerbs, if your car can't handle them, don't run over them! Simple!

(Too simple really - usually means the FIA will make some drastic rule change banning kerbs at all tracks or something like that!)

The asphalt run-off is a good idea, however.

[ancexttew]

Too many times we are seeing run off areas being used as a fail-safe for mistakes and even as enhanced racing lines on occassions where there is no time penalty at all for going off track.

Im all for safety in F1 but drivers need to be penalised for going off track so what about a nice wide wetted astroturf section to be driven over on their return to ensure it doesn't benefit them by going off track. That would stop the practice

[allemnendup]

Too many times we are seeing run off areas being used as a fail-safe for mistakes and even as enhanced racing lines on occassions where there is no time penalty at all for going off track.

Im all for safety in F1 but drivers need to be penalised for going off track so what about a nice wide wetted astroturf section to be driven over on their return to ensure it doesn't benefit them by going off track. That would stop the practice

I return to this forum and notice an improvement in your posting quality

Yeah, I agree 100% with what you say.

[Mboxmaja]

Too many times we are seeing run off areas being used as a fail-safe for mistakes and even as enhanced racing lines on occassions where there is no time penalty at all for going off track.

Im all for safety in F1 but drivers need to be penalised for going off track so what about a nice wide wetted astroturf section to be driven over on their return to ensure it doesn't benefit them by going off track. That would stop the practice

Yeah thats my main concern with tarmac run off areas. I agree.

[finasteridonline]

Most of F1 drivers come along as a bunch of pussies these days.
What would Trulli, DC and Wurz be doing in the pre '94 F1? Hiding in their motor homes?

We got to the point where they are asking for low kerbs because running over them would damage their cars!
Aren't you highly paid and supposedly skilled enough drivers to not run over the higher kerbs?

And some huge asphalt run off areas so that they can get the car back and continue racing without being punished for their mistakes.

There is no surprise that rookies can win the WDC in their first year nowadays. Costly mistakes don't exist anymore.

Get some young blood in F1, these are expired for quite some time!

[ancexttew]

There is no surprise that rookies can win the WDC in their first year nowadays. Costly mistakes don't exist anymore.

Driver safety is important but drivers should not be allowed to get away with mistakes as they do by using run off areas with no penalty.

As for rookies winning the title because they dont get penalised for mistakes, the only true rookie that is threatening that is Lewis and he has only made one costly mistake in torrential rain with a lot of other drivers. The European GP was a lottery or do you think that Schumacher would not have gone off in similar circumstances (think carefully before answering )

Apart from that, he appears to have made the least mistakes out of the top 4.

[Shiplyopidomi]

I think they should stay at home and play Playstation instead.

[Giselle]

If there is an advantage to be had hitting the kerb, they'll hit the kerb. OK it might be a risk, but they'll always push to get ever little advantage they can.

Let's just straighten the chicane up and be done with it.

[Arrocousa]

I think it is not fair to criticize the drivers for being concerned about safety.

The arguments "driver error should be punished" and "it's the same for everybody, deal with it" don't cut it when safety is at stake. Using those arguments we could argue that there was nothing wrong with the old ring, or the old Imola, or the armco in every corner, or the hay stacks, or so many other things that were standard years ago and are considered madness these days.

[rvadipoldkov]

I think it is not fair to criticize the drivers for being concerned about safety.

The arguments "driver error should be punished" and "it's the same for everybody, deal with it" don't cut it when safety is at stake. Using those arguments we could argue that there was nothing wrong with the old ring, or the old Imola, or the armco in every corner, or the hay stacks, or so many other things that were standard years ago and are considered madness these days.

I totally agree

Jackie Stewart had to put up with a lot of abuse during his time as a driver due to his crusade for safety; but where would we be without him? There'd be a lot fewer retired racing drivers in the world, I can tell you that.

[Tumarimmicdak]

The arguments "driver error should be punished" and "it's the same for everybody, deal with it" don't cut it when safety is at stake. Using those arguments we could argue that there was nothing wrong with the old ring, or the old Imola, or the armco in every corner, or the hay stacks, or so many other things that were standard years ago and are considered madness these days.

I basically agree, as I do with BBB's point below about Jackie Stewart, but was the old Imola inherently dangerous? It is possible for a fatal accident to occur at many (if not all) corners on many (if not all) circuits under certain circumstances.

[Arrocousa]

I basically agree, as I do with BBB's point below about Jackie Stewart, but was the old Imola inherently dangerous? It is possible for a fatal accident to occur at many (if not all) corners on many (if not all) circuits under certain circumstances.

I agree. I only mentioned Imola as an example of a track that was changed for safety reasons.

[Mboxmaja]

There are parts of tracks that are challenging for racing drivers and to remove the challenge of racing circuits in the name of safety, I think, is stupid. Thats how you end up with boring tracks, with, in Monza's case, boring racing.

[Immarsecice]

It's funny how there was so much criticism of the GPDA a year ago, particularly from the FIA, and yet some of the changes suggested by the drivers have now been made

[exchpaypalgold]

Remember 1996 when they used tyres as chicanes, to stop people driving over the kerbs, I seem to remember Villeneuve hitting the tyres them bouncing and collecting Coulthard who hadn't hit them.
I still prefer the old first chicane (Rettifilio) instead of the new one.

[rvadipoldkov]

There are parts of tracks that are challenging for racing drivers and to remove the challenge of racing circuits in the name of safety, I think, is stupid. Thats how you end up with boring tracks, with, in Monza's case, boring racing.

I agree, but many of these challenging places have no place in modern motorsport, sadly enough.

The old Knickerbrook at Oulton Park was a fantastically hairy high-speed right-hander, but it had to be go because there was no scope to increase the totally inadequate run-off area, which was a factor in several fatalities at the circuit.

[Mboxmaja]

I agree, but many of these challenging places have no place in modern motorsport, sadly enough.

The old Knickerbrook at Oulton Park was a fantastically hairy high-speed right-hander, but it had to be go because there was no scope to increase the totally inadequate run-off area, which was a factor in several fatalities at the circuit.

Yeah, I agree safety becomes a bigger issue with speed but I feel that, especially with some F1 drivers, they come off as rather soft, and lacking passion.

[andrekuper]

Too many times we are seeing run off areas being used as a fail-safe for mistakes and even as enhanced racing lines on occassions where there is no time penalty at all for going off track.

Im all for safety in F1 but drivers need to be penalised for going off track so what about a nice wide wetted astroturf section to be driven over on their return to ensure it doesn't benefit them by going off track. That would stop the practice

Depends what you mean by penalty. Depending on the nature of the 'off' you're penalised for going off and returning back onto the race track. I remember JPM went off at T8 in Turkey in 2005 and paid the price by losing a position to Alonso.

At Indy this year, Sato and Fisi went off on the same corner under similar circumstances. Both kept their engine running, however Fisi managed to return to the circuit whereas Sato was stuck in the kittylitter. Some would argue this as 'unfair' though I hear most people crying F1 is supposed to be unfair.

If you look back at the last race in Turkey, Lewis went off and would've retired had there been a gravel trap, but instead we had an interesting conclusion to a boring race. So if Lewis had a similar puncture, didn't damage the bodywork earlier in the race, we would've seen Lewis making up some positions instead of the snorefest we had to put up with last Sunday.

[DoctorDulitlBest]

Too many times we are seeing run off areas being used as a fail-safe for mistakes and even as enhanced racing lines on occassions where there is no time penalty at all for going off track.

Im all for safety in F1 but drivers need to be penalised for going off track so what about a nice wide wetted astroturf section to be driven over on their return to ensure it doesn't benefit them by going off track. That would stop the practice

No, forget the wet astroturf - tire spikes where the car rejoins the track would be much more effective!!