F1 | Melbourne: drivers worried about Turn 6, changes coming

The FIA ​​is carrying out a review of the crash, which occurred after Russell was caught by Fernando Alonso who deliberately braked before Turn 6 at Albert Park in a bid to avoid being overtaken by his Mercedes rival.

Alonso was penalized for his maneuver after the Melbourne race, a decision which divided opinion among F1 drivers when asked for his opinion on their arrival in Japan.

Motorsport.com understands that several options are being explored to change the curve for F1's return to Australia next year, after drivers had called for such a change even before this latest crash.

Russell's crash followed concerns about the safety of the corner, which emerged in 2023 with Albon's crash, which caused the first of three red flags at last year's Melbourne race.

Among other things, Albon himself ended up in the wall again at that point in this year's FP1, damaging the chassis of his Williams and forcing the Grove team to contest the rest of the weekend with just one single-seater, handing over his teammate's to him. Logan Sargeant.

Turn 6 was one of those changed as part of the major rescheduling of the Melbourne event ahead of its return to the F1 calendar in 2022, post-pandemic. As part of this, the trajectory of the right-hander was opened up and thus made significantly faster before entering a long acceleration zone.

Options being considered for modifying the curve apparently include resurfacing to reduce car speeds at that point, adding an asphalt run-off area on the outside in place of the current gravel one, or modification of the barriers to try to prevent cars from bouncing towards the track in the event of another accident.

The idea of ​​changing the corner was raised at the drivers' meeting after FP2 in Melbourne this year. “Maybe there are a couple of things we could improve,” Oscar Piastri said on Thursday at Suzuka.

“We've seen several incidents where cars have bounced off the track, which is an issue we've talked about and which I think needs to be addressed. Maybe just the angle of the wall or potentially even the speed of the corner. It's obvious that it's a corner now pretty fast.”

“So, it's something we've talked about with the FIA. And we'll see what happens. But yes, there have probably been too many accidents with cars ending up in the middle of the track not to do something about it.”

Piastri's opinion is shared by many of his colleagues, although Russell stated that “the corner is fantastic, probably one of the best on the circuit, so I wouldn't want it changed”.

“But it's not just about that corner,” added the Mercedes driver. “I think all the circuits that have barriers in certain positions, that push you back onto the circuit, that's obviously not good.”

“We don't want a huge escape route, not even one that necessarily has to be on asphalt. Maybe it would be enough to work on the position of the wall, placing it so that the cars don't bounce off the track.”

Albon instead stressed that it was the curb that contributed to his accident in FP1 this year, that it was a sort of “double step” on the way out.

“Especially now that we have these low cars, we can hit the first piece of curb, but if you overdo it you hit some sort of second ramp that launches the car into the air. So, this could be improved.”

Press Conference, Alex Albon, Williams Racing

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Speaking alongside Russell and Albon in the pre-event press conference at Suzuka, Ferrari driver and Melbourne winner Spaniard Carlos Sainz said: “That corner needs to be reviewed, which I already said in the last drivers' briefing.” .

“But it's not the first time that, after a collision, the car returns to the track. And it's a curve that you take at 250 km/h and it's blind. I don't like the latest accidents we've seen on this curve, in other categories too. It doesn't give me a good feeling.”

“It's a fantastic corner, don't get me wrong. I like driving on a qualifying lap. It's just that when it comes to racing, there have been too many examples of cars coming back onto the track and being very tight. I think it's a corner that must be revised.”