13/07/2022
NEWS STORY
Following a huge crash at Monza at the weekend, Lando Norris is calling on the FIA to do away with sausage kerbs.
The accident occurred during the WEC event at Monza, and saw Henrique Chaves' Aston Martin being flipped upside down after hitting the kerb at the second chicane sideways on, just a week after a not entirely dissimilar incident at Silverstone.
After hitting the kerb and landing on its roof the car slid along the track before barrel-rolling into a guardrail.
"Thankfully, despite one of the car's doors coming off mid-air, and debris flying about all over the place, Chaves was able to walk away unharmed," writes Norris in The Telegraph.
"But the car should never have been sent airborne in the first place," he adds. "Certainly not in such violent fashion. These things are always more complex than they seem but there is one thing I am concerned about: sausage kerbs.
"I have been critical of raised kerbs in the past, but I think it is time we acted on these warnings and removed them from our sport," he warns. "Chaves's crash was the second big one in two weeks after the incident in the Formula Two race at Silverstone when Dennis Hauger's car was launched into the air when he struck a raised kerb, crashing into the halo safety device of rival Roy Nissany.
"Again, thankfully, both drivers were able to walk away from the incident but we have seen other drivers injured in the past. In 2019, Alex Peroni had a big crash when he hit a sausage kerb during an F3 race in support of the F1 race. That ended his season.
"With Formula One cars running lower to the ground than ever, and stiffer than ever, we need to act because when these cars hit these kerbs, you do not ride them. You can be launched into the air. Cars can pop up, do big wheelies and then slam back down again, which can be very painful on the back.
Chaves's crash is a reminder that we cannot let this drag on," he warns. "Issues such as sausage kerbs are, in my eyes at least, a critical topic that we need to sort out sooner rather than later."