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Adrian Newey pitched 'slippery kerbs' to enforce track limits

14:47, 25 Oct 2018

byJake Williams-Smith

Red Bull design guru Adrian Newey pitched the idea of implementing 'slippery kerbs' on the outside of corners that drivers abuse track limits of to act as a deterrent. The design could be a good solution over the extreme kerbs currently used that can sometimes lead to cars breaking due to stress they cause.

In Austin, Texas it was Max Verstappen who was the latest victim of running over plastic kerbs on corner exit which destroyed his driveshaft and resulted in a grid penalty. Newey's idea was apparently pitched to the FIA but due to other series' running at the same venues, a universally approved solution would have to be agreed upon.

“It (kerbs) works better on some circuits than it does others,” Whiting is quoted by Motorsport.com.

“At the Red Bull Ring we had to put the additional kerbs behind, because the first time they were installed there were suspension failures.

"Basically the cars couldn’t cope with the kerbs.

“You can see the problem there, some cars were OK, others weren’t but they had to redesign their cars to make sure that they can cope with the things.

"This is one of the fundamental arguments that I have with them sometimes. They want the kerbs to be designed to suit the cars and I say 'no, that’s not the way it is, you have to design the cars to suit the circuits'.

“It’s a complicated subject which is not simple to find a solution to.

"Adrian Newey came to me recently and suggested and we could have some sort of slippery kerb, and I said 'that’s great Adrian, but if you can find a kerb that deters all kinds of car and is suitable for motorbikes, please tell me about it, because we can’t think of one at the moment'.”

Whiting highlighted the difficulty in finding a solution due to other cars and motorbikes running on the same circuits and that one solution that might work for F1 could make for more dangerous racing in another category.

“That’s the biggest problem, to be able to let track owners and operators be able to use their circuits all year long without having to do too much work.

"In Red Bull Ring, for example, some of the kerbs they put down, they take out when they have motorcycle activity.

“It just depends how the circuits need to operate. It would be a relatively straightforward thing to ask them to install kerbs which are suitable for all types of car, but then they would probably be a little bit too bad for F1 cars."