FIA forced to revise Montreal’s first corner barriers ahead of Sunday’s race following backlash

The new barrier put in place at the run-off of Turns 1 and 2 for the Canadian GP, has been revised by the FIA after drivers raise concerns

FIA forced to revise Montreal’s first corner barriers ahead of Sunday’s race following backlash

The new barrier put in place at the run-off of Turns 1 and 2 for the Canadian GP, has been revised by the FIA after drivers raise concerns

In previous years at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, it was not unusual for drivers to lock their brakes and go too far into the left-hand Turn 1. This turn leads to a loop through Turn 2 and a short straight before Turn 3. Some drivers would skip Turn Two entirely and get back on track. The FIA installed a barrier to prevent the drivers from going directly onto the track for this year’s Canadian GP.

This barrier has been placed where the asphalt run-off meets the exit of Turn 2. If a driver overshoots Turn 1, they must either use the asphalt run-off or cut across the grass to rejoin the track for Turn 2. The extended barrier, however, will be shortened again for Sunday’s main race. Several concerns were raised by fans as well as the drivers over the turn. There were talks of getting rid of removing a piece of the barrier before Saturday’s qualifying, but it didn’t happen.

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FIA spokesperson told Autosport that the original change was made to prevent a scenario where a car could veer off at T1 and collide with another car while crossing the exit of T2 at high speed. They also mentioned that Based on discussions with the F1 drivers, the decision was taken to enable smoother rejoining of the track, and there are plans to make further improvements for upcoming events.

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The [original] change was done to avoid the possibility of a car going off at T1 and coming across the exit of T2 at speed and potentially t-boning another car,” an FIA spokesperson told Autosport. “Following discussion with the drivers, we are making the change to allow them to rejoin more easily and will refine this solution further for future events,” they concluded.

Also read: “It was every man for himself,” Carlos Sainz gives a strong response to Pierre Gasly’s Q1 rant

George Russell joins drivers in raising concerns over the extended barrier

George Russell Mercedes driver and GPDA president (Image credit: Gpblog)

Several F1 pundits and drivers raised safety questions about the extension of the barrier. After incidents that took place during Saturday’s qualifying, the FIA could not ignore this situation.

When asked about the barrier, GPDA director George Russell stated they had discussed it the previous night. In hindsight, they believed they should have been consulted before making decisions, as they collectively agreed that the current situation was suboptimal.

“We all spoke about that last night,” Russell told Autosport. “In hindsight, we probably should have been consulted about the views on that before decisions were made. And we all agree that it’s suboptimal,” the Mercedes driver concluded.

Williams driver Alex Albon along with AlphTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, too, echoed the same concerns as their GPDA president. Both drivers questioned the reasoning behind introducing the extension in the first place.

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