Ahead of Formula One’s return to the Bahrain International Circuit for this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix, the FIA has modified the barrier where Romain Grosjean had his fiery accident, adding a wall of tyres to reduce the risk of a repeat.
F1 will race on Bahrain’s outer layout this weekend in the second of two races at the Bahrain International Circuit this season. The layout for this weekend’s race retains the opening three corners, including the section of track where Grosjean crashed, but then leaves the usual layout at Turn 4, cuts out the infield, and rejoins at Turn 13 of the normal track.
Grosjean’s accident destroyed the section of Armco barrier on the right of Turn 3 and was replaced for the restart of Sunday’s race with concrete blocks.
Armco has now been reinstalled in place of the concrete blocks and two rows of tyres, designed to help dissipate energy and protect the integrity of the barrier in a repeat, have been added.
The FIA has also extended the existing tyre barrier on the right-hand side at Turn 9, which is the point where the outer layout rejoins the normal grand prix circuit. A kerb between Turn 8 and Turn 9 has also been removed to reduce the risk of cars becoming airborne in the event of an accident.
An FIA statement said the changes were made « following a review of the recent Bahrain FIA Formula One World Championship event. »
https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/30441993/fia-makes-changes-bahrain-barrier-grosjean-crash
