FIA faces F1 driver fury at Qatar GP over changes amid safety concerns at track

07 October 2023 , 14:11

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Drivers are unhappy with last-minute track changes at the Qatar Grand Prix (Image: Getty Images)

The FIA has admitted Formula 1 driver anger is "understandable" after a short-notice change to the Qatar Grand Prix track amid safety worries.

Pirelli flagged a problem after studying tyres used in the practice session on Friday. Having taken a close look at those used compounds, they became concerned over the structural integrity of the tyres if they were to be used for more than 20 laps.

Having identified 'pyramid' kerbs as the likely cause, the FIA chose to paint the track to narrow turns 12 and 13 by around 80cm to stop drivers from driving over the particularly abrasive parts of those kerbs in that section of the track too often.

And a 10-minute practice session was put on before the Sprint Shootout on Saturday so the drivers could have a few laps to get used to the new, tighter corners. But that did not appease the drivers, many of whom were furious that they found out about the changes when the FIA announced them publicly.

Many drivers felt they should have been consulted over the potential changes, even if it was for a safety concern. And the FIA's single seater director Nikolas Tombazis has conceded that he has some sympathy for the drivers.

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"It is understandable," he told Sky Sports prior to that short practice session. "They drive the cars and they want to make sure they're safe and safety is absolutely our number one priority.

"We did consider modifying the kerbs but from the time we had last night, very late at night, to today, it would not have been possible. There were not one or two single kerbs, it was quite an extent – they would have had to have been filed-off and that's very hard concrete, that would not have been possible.

"So, on that basis, the next thing we got was to actually get the cars to stay a bit further away from the kerbs, which is what we've done by changing the white line."

Tombazis made sure to absolve the circuit itself of any blame, adding: "To be clear, the kerb used is of an FIA specification. The track has done a good job of putting together everything, so we have got no complaints against the track, they have used all the guidelines.

"These interactions between tyres and kerbs can be very complicated and can depend on a lot of relatively subtle details, which obviously, indicate that we need to do more research there to improve the situation further, both from a tyre and kerb point of view."

Daniel Moxon