F1 News: FIA Makes Last-Minute Change To Canadian GP After Safety Complaints

The FIA has made some last minute changes to the Canadian Grand Prix after safety complaints have been raised by the drivers during the weekend.

A change was made to the track ahead of the weekend in Montreal to include an extended race wall on the run off of Turn 1 before Turn 2. Drivers raised this during the drivers briefing on Friday evening to the FIA after they had safety concerns over the wall. If drivers run off after Turn 1, the wall forces them to either cross over the grass verge or turn around completely to get back onto the track.

It was thought yesterday that the FIA had reviewed it but decided not to make any changes as the wall remained there during FP3 and qualifying. However, it has now been revealed to Autosport that the wall has now been removed.

A spokesperson for the FIA explained to Autosport:

“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.

“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.”

George Russell, the director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, explained that the drivers' should have ideally been consulted before the change was made. He said:

“We all spoke about that last night.

“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.”