The death of young Dilano Van’t Hoff in the same corner that claimed Antoine Hubert’s life has reopened discussions on safety. In response to Lance Stroll’s unequivocal statements, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, and Sergio Perez have addressed the issue during the post-race press conference in Austria: is changing Spa-Francorchamps the solution?
The trio of drivers on the podium at the Spielberg Grand Prix answered their Canadian colleague’s question. The inquiry came from Andrew Benson, a journalist from the BBC: “Do you agree with Lance Stroll’s opinion? Are you satisfied with the changes made at Raidillon? Do you think that Formula 1 takes excessive risks by going to Spa in three weeks?”
“Jeddah is even more dangerous… Nothing will be said until something happens”
Max Verstappen was the first to speak. The Dutch driver explained: “It is definitely a rather dangerous corner. However, we also go to Jeddah, and for me, that first sector in Saudi Arabia is even more dangerous. I’m glad that nothing has happened there yet, but if you have an accident at that point, it can still happen: it’s all blind, you don’t know what you might encounter.” – he pointed out.
“And certainly, going up from Eau Rouge, you don’t see anything, but now this accident happened after that. I think the only thing that can improve that part of the track is widening the area and trying to move the barriers away. Because at the moment, as soon as you have an accident and impact the barriers, it’s easy to bounce back onto the track. And obviously, this scenario with poor visibility and lots of water is a big problem,” he continued. “On dry conditions, it’s usually a bit better.” – the Dutchman added.
“The changes they made at Spa have certainly widened the area, but that will always be a dangerous corner,” Max Verstappen continued. He concluded with a slight controversy: “However, we go to many tracks with dangerous corners where nothing will be said until something happens.”
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“Unfair to blame only the track”
“I believe it is a bit unfair to solely blame the track because I think we should first look at why they restarted. It’s a great championship, many drivers, emerging talents who probably take a bit more risk, wanting to prove they are the best at every race.” He also noted that for these tragedies to occur, many events must coincide, things that “we certainly need to improve.”
Sergio Perez agreed with many of the points made by his teammate: “There is room for improvement in the exit of Eau Rouge-Raidillon. And I hope they can move the barriers further back to ensure that no car returns to the track after an accident.”
Charles Leclerc stated: “The first thing to consider is the conditions in which we, as drivers, feel comfortable racing. Then there’s the visibility: 30 years ago, I’m almost certain that the water spray generated by the cars was much less intrusive due to less aerodynamics. And as Max said, you can’t see anything and you just hope that those ahead are pushing and there’s no one in the middle of the track.” – Charles Leclerc explained.
“I would say that in these circuits, we should consider placing the walls further away from the track so that no one bounces back onto the track. What happened is obviously, again, terrible,” concluded the Monegasque driver.
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