Is it time for F1 to move on from Spa?

[John]

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arti ... e-calendar

While the article is somewhat clickbaity, it does raise some good topics.

The racing more often than not suck. No doubt this is a combo of the track and the current cars.
Eau Rouge/Raidillon is a problem. The amount of stupid big pile ups there the past few years are too many. And obviously the contract situation.

Re-working Eau Rouge might be a good solution, tightening the entrance would a good place to start, making it more like it was in the 1960's.

[Antonov]

I hate there is only 44 laps.

[John]

I hate there is only 44 laps.

44 laps is better than two.

[Everso Biggyballies]

I hate there is only 44 laps.

Nurburgring (Nordschleife) used to be only 14 laps in its last years!
And Spa used to be only 28 laps back in the sixties

Still better than 2!

[John]

I think that Spa needs to make some changes and introducing gravel traps is a good start. And with the amount of large scale accidents at the track in recent years I would understand if negotiations will be tough going forward. But under no circumstances can it be replaced by yet another cookie cutter course in the Gulf.

[DoubleFart]

We've seen a lot of cars skate across the surface of the gravel though, so I'm not even sure that's an answer in some places. Did it help Burti in 2001 for instance? Did it help Villeneuve in 1998 or 1999?

[Mawerick]

I think it would be helpful to develop a new solution to replace tyre barriers. Something that would absorb the impact and _not_ rebound cars like the tyres do.

[erwin greven]

The FIA is going to change the barriers in such a way that cars won't bounce back onto the track after spinning of the track. Gravel traps are going to re-introduced. And i would like to have the entry of the Eau Rouge - Raidillion to be more tight. In an F1 car it is a very easy corner now. Flat out, while in 1999 you still had to lift a bit. Have to say: in 1999 we had the grooved tires.

Also the track has some severe bumps at that place after it had to have quick repairs after the huge downpour a month ago. Several F1 drivers, Hamilton i.e. Porsche Cup drivers and also the girls of Formula W mentioned it.

[Circuitmaster]

Add gravel and move barriers where possible, but it stays on the calendar for me.

[Arthur-vL]

I would say that it is also the mentality of nowadays drivers that are causing crashes like this. A double yellow means you have to prepare for a stop cause the road is most probably blocked. But with the Kemmel straight after it no one lifts at all.
I heard that the woman who hits Visser in the W series hit Visser at full speed after a staggering 12 seconds after the first car crashed in Eau Rouge! 12 seconds! Howcome she did not see double yellows!

I think creating more space is a good thing on top of the radillon, but also tarmac as at Paul Ricard; when you drive over that surface your tires are gone. So Spa can definately be on the calender!

[MonteCristo]

As others said, tighten Eau Rouge.

Why are so many cars hitting the left side of the barriers these days?

It feels like they're going 100% across the curbs, getting unsettled, and then launching to the left instead of off to the right as they used to more commonly.

[SBan83]

I wouldn't mind a very mild chicane at the top of the hill. That would still preserve the majesty of Eau Rouge as you approach it at speed from La Source but you'd have to brake and slow down as you climb up. Most of the big accidents happen at the rise since they're trying to carry as much speed as possible onto the following Kemmel Straight. It would be sort of like Road Atlanta's first turn.

[Michkov]

Not sure if I mentioned it here or someplace else, but the thing about Eau Rouge is that you are going to hit the wall if you loose the cars. So it becomes an exercise in keeping the impacts safe and the cars from reentering the racing surface. Gravel seems like the ideal solution to the later, yes you get issues with cars bouncing across, but the assumption is that they are going into the wall anyway and a damaged car stops faster in gravel than on tarmac where it can slide quite a while. It would also cut down on the psychological aspect in which a driver can just elect not to take the left on top of the hill as easy as it is now. The only downside to this that we've seen cars take off due to hitting a bump there, something that loose surface would probably help with too.

[Picci]

The racing is sucking in the last few years mainly because most corners are now taken in 3rd or 4th gear. They take Pouhon in 7th and le Fagne in 4th or 5th. The downforce levels of these cars are way too high and this has meant fewer heavy braking zones giving us a Silverstone and Barcelona-style problem. As for Eau Rouge, like all the above said, moving the barriers slightly, tightening the corner and increasing gravel traps will fix it.