F1 News
Australian GP organisers intervene after Russell's enormous crash in '24
Changes are being made to the Melbourne circuit by the Australian Grand Prix's orginasers to prevent crashes similar to George Russell's in 2024 and Alexander Albon's in 2023.
Adjustments made to the Melbourne track
Last year, Russell crashed his Mercedes on the final lap of the Australian Grand Prix. After he lost control of his car, the British driver bounced back to the track and was stranded sideways. Meanwhile, drivers kept on passing him, as Russell shouted 'red flag' over the team radio. That shouldn't happen when the grid will visit the Melbourne circuit this year.
Tom Mottrom, the chief events officer of this year's season opener, confirmed to Speedcafe that Turn 6 has been modified. "There’s about a 90-metre kerb along there. What it’s been in the past is about 50-odd metres of that was a bevel kerb, which is more on the entry to [Turn] 7," he explained.
"What we’ve done now is actually just agree with the FIA that we change that whole kerb to a negative kerb the whole way, so you’re not having that kind of accelerating off that kerb once you hit the bevel. We added in half a metre of concrete verge before the gravel trap, again, just to allow a little bit of leeway there before getting into the gravel trap."
Moreover, the barrier line made of tyre bundles, the TecPro barriers have been moved back by two metres, and more of the aforementioned barriers have been added as well. All that work has been carried out to avoid cars bouncing back to track in the future, if an incident happens in that corner.
This article was written in collaboration with Ludo van Denderen
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