Scuderia Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz admitted that has been obvious for some time for Formula 1 drivers that Spa-Francorchamps’ high-speed Eau Rouge/Raidillon sequence has a “fundamental issue”, but the Spaniard and his teammate Charles Leclerc are awaiting changes.
Spa-Francorchamp’s daunting corner was in high focus once again on Saturday when McLaren’s Lando Norris crashed heavily while running up the hill in the qualifying session for the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, fortunately without suffering any physical injuries. Yet the crash happened only one day after a horrendous six-car pile-up at the corner during qualifying for the W Series event, leading to an outcry for change, with the zone’s run-off area seen as the main focal point.
Following the tragic events that took place during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend in 2019, when Renault hopeful Anthoine Hubert was killed during the Formula 2 race in a collision that took place at the top of the hill, the Eau Rouge/Raidillon sequence was included in the track’s €80 million renovation plans.
More specifically, the corner’s tarmac run-off area is expected to be replaced with gravel while the barriers in the upper part of the corner are expected to pushed back, with the changes hopefully significantly dampening the bounce-back effect that has caused cars crashing at the corner to ricochet off the tyre barriers and on to the track where drivers find themselves sin harm’s way.
“It’s very obvious that this corner has a fundamental issue that means when you crash, first of all, you crash very heavy and second, you crash back into the circuit,” Carlos Sainz explained, as the Ferrari driver witnessed his friend Norris’ crash live on Spa’s big screen while conducting an interview after Q2 in qualifying on Saturday – “This is when, in these kind of conditions, in the spray, if someone in P2 crashes and someone coming in P17 doesn’t know, it’s an extremely dangerous situation that we as drivers, we have asked for changes. We’ve asked for reviewing this corner, and we’ve been told that the FIA is already on it. So we are more calm about it, but this year is going to be another tricky one.” – he added.
Scuderia Sainz’s Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc was also happy about the proposed changes but at the same time he was also understandably unsettled by the McLaren driver’s impressive wreck.
“It was very scary for me to see, as for everyone, this crash at the same place where I’ve lost a friend two years ago. It was incredibly good to see Lando walking out alone, out of the car. In terms of the track, they know that there is something there that needs to change, and the changes are planned for next year I think, which is good to know. Then for this season, I just pray for nothing to happen.” – Charles Leclerc concluded.
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