The grass strip in Turn 5 of the Hungaroring had been partly replaced for gravel ahead of today’s Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix following Yuki Tsunoda’s accident.
The FIA has decided to take measures to avoid repentance of the circumstances that contributed to Yuki Tsunoda crashing out during Q3.
Four meters of the grass strip have been excavated and filled with gravel replacing the problematic grass strip.
RB’s CEO Peter Bayer told Autosport that this issue was already mentioned in the drivers’ briefing ahead of the race weekend in Hungary.
“The ground sank a little and there is a wave [created by the bump] that has the effect like a sausage kerb. He found it.”
FIA’s President Mohammed Ben Sulayem told his team to take a closer look at the area after RB’s and drivers’ concerns and the F1 government body has taken action in the offtime between qualifying and the race.
This should now allow drivers to carry on if they find the limits of the track, preventing them from being launched up to the barriers at the exit of Turn 5, as Tsunoda experimented yesterday.
Daniel Ricciardo, Tsunoda’s team-mate, revealed he suspected this area of the track could be problematic when he and his team did the routine track walk on Thursday.
“So a few of us on Thursday, like the few that do a track walk saw that the edge drops a lot. And we thought if you drop off a wheel there, it’s going to just skateboard and do literally what it did.”
“So there’s just no margin for error on that corner. It was a big one. I mean, I saw him get out, so I think he’s OK, but obviously it’s completely destroyed the car. So I don’t think that is the nicest kind of run-off that they’ve created for us.”
Tsunoda will start from 10th after being overtaken by Ricciardo in the last flying lap of the Q3 session, so the RB’s will see the lights out filling the fifth row of the grid, inside the point-worthy positions.
“Both were in Q3 for the second time this year,” Bayer said on their driver’s result in qualifying. “Honestly, after Barcelona, Spielberg and Silverstone, it’s good to be at the front again.
The car was really well set up here. I think a lot is possible here [in the race].”
