Perez: "Too many incidents" needed to remove Monza F1 sausage kerbs
Formula 1 drivers have welcome the removal of sausage kerbs in Monza's second chicane, although Sergio Perez felt it "took too many incidents" to get rid of them.
In 2019, F3 driver Alex Peroni suffered a back fracture after being launched over sausage kerbs on the exit of Parabolica.
The kerbs were removed for the remainder of the weekend at that particular corner but continued to be used on FIA Grade 1 circuits.
At last year's US Grand Prix in Austin, W Series driver Abbie Eaton and F4 competitor Christian Weir both suffered compression fractures after their cars took off over similar kerbs, while at Monza's WEC race this year Henrique Chaves walked away from a huge crash after hitting the sausage kerbs at the second chicane in his Aston Martin GTE car.
Those sausage kerbs have now also been removed ahead of this weekend's Italian Grand Prix following long standing criticism from the drivers, with Red Bull's Sergio Perez saying it took "too many incidents" to get rid of them.
"Yeah, I felt it took a bit too many incidents to remove them. Already a few years ago, we saw how dangerous they can be," Perez said on Thursday, referencing the Peroni crash.
"Luckily, nothing bad has happened but it's a great thing to get rid of them, because they can create a massive shunt."
Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu said their removal should also help the racing as cars are no longer risking being sent airbourne while battling side by side through Monza's tight chicanes.
"Of course, the sausage curbs is making racing quite difficult when you're racing side by side; not just for us also for the feeder series," the Chinese drivers added.
"There's been a few incidents at Monza in the past so I think was a good way to go."
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo by: Erik Junius
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton also gave the decision "two thumbs up", with McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo adding "we're happy with the decision for sure".
Drivers failing to stay on track in Monza's second chicane are forced to follow a specific tarmac lane through the run-off area to rejoin the circuit.
The much-maligned first chicane, also the scene of many incidents over the years, still has rumble strips on the inside of the left-hand section to slow down cars who have missed the first right-hander, though they are much lower than typical sausage kerbs and tend to be traversed at reduced speeds.
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