Turn eight kerb eased after Friday crashes

2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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The kerb at turn eight on the Baku City Circuit has been eased following the crashes in yesterday’s F1 practice sessions.

Sergio Perez and Jolyon Palmer crashed at the corner after touching the kerb on the inside of the narrow bend.

Ahead of Saturday’s running the FIA announced “the kerb on the apex of turn eight has been shortened and the track edge re-aligned”.

The barriers on the outside of the corner, which had already been moved back ahead of this weekends event, have been adjusted again. “One additional row of TecPro barriers have been inserted on the first part or the barrier on the exit of turn eight (not the last part),” according to the FIA.

However turn eight remained a trouble spot in the supporting Formula Two race ahead of today’s final practice session. Sean Gelael crashed after hitting the altered kerb, blocking the track and bringing the race to an early end.

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    Perez crashed after hitting the turn eight kerb

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    Keith Collantine
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    26 comments on “Turn eight kerb eased after Friday crashes”

    1. Typical modern F1. If something is a challenge, the challenge is adapted rather than adapting to the challenge. Pathetic.

      1. @hahostolze, You are missing the point. A driver failing to overcome the challenge and going into the barriers is fine as long as he is the one who has the deal with the consequense of being out of the race.

        However, in this case, the crashed car will block the entire road. If unlucky the car would be unsighted for another car, making it a safety issue. Also, nobody wants to see the race getting red flagged as a result of the track being blocked.

        Reducing the kerb and the chance of a car crashing at that position and blocking the track is the right compromise to make.

        1. The car will block the road regardless of what kind of kerb. In F2 race Gelael hit the wall and car turned sideways blocking the track. The race ended there.

          1. @blue, That’s why i wrote “reduce the chance”. The problem obviously isn’t going away entirely.

        2. Also, there appear to be logistical difficulties in clearing the blocks that occur. As such, it ends up being more of a penalty to the innocent than the guilty. This is clearly a sticking plaster rather than a full fix, but a full fix would require the circuit to be re-homologated, which can’t happen mid-weekend. (Don’t ask me why this wasn’t foreseen – the rant could go on for quite a while…)

      2. i could not agree more… todays formula 1 drivers think they are in a bike or something lol

    2. The Formula Two race didn’t disappoint. Hopefully the F1 race will be as good.

    3. Well if the Formula 2 race is anything to go by we should be in for some action at turn 8 despite it’s apparent easing. But hey, surely the “best drivers in the world” can handle it!

    4. 2 crashes and the corner gets adjusted? Why hasn’t Monaco changed in over 50 years? The slightest chance of a spectacular race has been stopen from us. I’ll still watch it but am afraid it’ll be another boring race.

      1. *stolen

      2. @addvariety If the idea of a spectacular race is corners that induce crashes then this is not the sport for you

        1. You’re almost irreversibly wrong. Every corner in F1 should bring a risk if you don’t take it right. That’s what separates good from great drivers. The worst thing about modern F1 is that the vast majority of corners only have as consequence a loss of a few seconds. Far too easy.

          1. The problem with street circuits in F1 is not tight corners, or easy corners, it’s the lack of passing space on these narrow ‘tunnel like’ street circuits, that limits opportunities for drivers to improve their position. What’s boring is the virtual single file procession from beginning to end, which so many street circuits seem to deliver.

        2. @smartez You’ve completely misread my comment. Did you not read my Monaco remark?

          While I don’t condone “crash inducing corners” as you state it, I never said anything close to that, I do think that corners shouldn’t be (too) easy. The best corners in F1 are the ones that at least induce fear or respect by the drivers. Think Eau Rouge, 130R, Parabolica and Piscine to name a few.

          What has happened at Baku is simple: 2 drivers have crashed in two seperate sessions, some drivers complain and boom a new (read: easier and less demanding) corner is created with a lower kerb. One of those drivers is worthless, the other is among the current top 10.

          Unless driver’s safety is severely at risk, no corner should be altered. Imagine if the above examples are tamed, we’ll just lose iconic corners and possibly circuits. My comment was based on the fact that Baku was extremely boring last year, but as a circuit is quite interesting and one of the few tricky parts is turn 8/9. If they’d kept that, it might have the potential to get in among those legendary corners. Now it’s not.

          And even so: in F2 race 1 it still showed that when a single car crashes there, you’ll get a red flag since nobody can get around. So what’s the gain? A more boring corner with the same result when someone crashes, it’s still only around 7 meters wide. As they say in my country: “they’ve made the drivers happy with a dead sparrow”.

      3. Your comment is actually inaccurate as several changes have been made to the circuit since it’s introduction to the calendar.
        https://www.carthrottle.com/post/how-the-monaco-grand-prix-circuit-has-changed-since-joining-the-f1-calendar/

        It is worth remembering that this years cars are faster and wider than last year, so maybe the change was necessary, but I an not a driver, it is just a thought.

      4. Why hasn’t Monaco changed in over 50 years?

        I don’t know if this is sarcasm or not. Monaco has had more layout changes, more barrier changes, and more kerb changes than any other circuit in F1.

        1. @strontium It was indeed sarcasm. My point was: it’s the tightest circuit on the calendar for some time and of course there were changes, but Baku contains only 5% Monaco-like circuit and now drivers are getting afraid of that small part.

      5. Monaco have arguably the world’s best marshals. Certainly the ones with the highest entry requirements. No point having a corner that induces crashes if the results can’t be efficiently cleaned up…

    5. GtisBetter (@)
      24th June 2017, 10:24

      Stop catering to whiny drivers. If only one driver seem to have a problem with it, surely it’s more likely his fault then the kerbs….

    6. Blastermaster
      24th June 2017, 10:30

      Better make it an 80kph limilt at turn one then, since Max crashed there also….

    7. Great they added techpro, but they should have made the kerb harsher to compensate….

    8. Perez was carrying too much speed into the corner, a mistake that he won’t make again, and Palmer is Palmer. Don’t see any need to change it – 18/20 had no problem with it whatsoever

      1. Perez made that mistake twice though.

    9. It would be a better idea to get a crane on that spot to make it easier/quicker to remove crashed cars than getting the kerbs adjusted. We need more punishment for mistakes.

    10. Perhaps next year they need to think about having a bypass or something, if possible, that cars can go down if the track is blocked.

      In the meantime I think this new painted kerb, or non-kerb, is a good idea. The original one always seemed odd to me, this looks a lot better, although I’d hope it a temporary solution.

      However last year most kerbs ended up being replaced with paint, and it seems they have kept it like that as they did with Singapore.

    11. Why. It’s a challenge. What next Monaco I’d to tight let’s widen it. Drive to the track it’s that simple. That’s what separates great drivers from average drivers

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