F1 News
Vasseur after FIA decree: 'Must continue to work together for safety'.
- GPblog.com
The FIA announced on Friday that more will be done to combat porpoising in 2023. Besides these rule changes, it was also announced that the roll bar will be made even safer. Alfa Romeo team principal Frédéric Vasseur is satisfied and thinks that cooperation between FIA and teams is very important.
FIA helps make roll bars safer
Guanyu Zhou had such a severe crash at Silverstone that the rollbar on top of his car broke off. The halo on his car allowed the Chinese driver to survive the crash, where he slid upside down over the tarmac and through the gravel for dozens of metres. Miraculously, Zhou was unscathed from the crash, but it had become clear that the car's roll bar had not helped protect the driver.
Along with other rule changes, the FIA therefore reported that the rollbar must be made safer: "The teams have confirmed that it is possible to introduce stricter rules regarding the rollbar in 2023. The FIA has carried out the relevant analyses and has informed the teams of the new requirements for roll bar safety." Meanwhile, the team itself is still conducting its own investigation into the crash and the broken roll bar.
Crash Zhou was twice as hard as crash test
As-web.jp quotes Vasseur: "We are still investigating the crash and sharing all information with the FIA. The first problem was that the crash was twice as hard as the normal crash test. To improve safety, we need to improve on our side and continue to work with the FIA." Vasseur further wants to focus on the positive. There are no major consequences for the drivers involved despite the scale of the crash. Vasseur is pleased that no fuel leaks occurred: "That would have been the worst case scenario."