Here’s everything you need to know about the controversial ‘sausage kerb’ in Formula One – and also its purpose
Sausage kerbs are little ramps that are strategically placed on the side of the track to discourage drivers from running wide.
They have been in use in motorsport for a long time but are relatively new in Formula One. These kerbs are especially placed in the fast corners of the track to reduce the number of collisions of cars into barriers and potential damage to cars in case they go off-road.
Although the sausage kerbs have been put in place by the FIA to improve the safety of drivers, they are simply not working!
The sausage kerbs have been held responsible for a number of motorsport accidents over the years and team chiefs like Red Bull’s Christian Horner and several F1 drivers have called for the removal of these structures.
However, the FIA hasn’t implemented the removal process on a large scale and the sausage kerbs can still be seen in a number of professional motorsport events including Formula One.
Sausage Kerb accident causes spinal injuries to FRECA racer in Imola
The debate surrounding Sausage Kerbs has received a fresh spark after a horrific accident of Adam Fitzgerald on Sunday.
Irish FRECA driver Fitzgerald sustained spinal fractures after getting airborne over the sausage kerbs at Turn 1 in the Imola circuit. It has been officially confirmed that Fitzgerald suffered three fractured vertebrae but fortunately he didn’t sustain any injury to the spinal cord.
This is not the first time that sausage kerbs have led to accidents either. In 2019, Sophia Floersch’s horrendous crash at Macau was one of the first reported incidents that was apparently caused by the sausage kerbs. The death of 22-year-old Anthoine Hubert after his crash at the Belgium Grand Prix was another infamous incident where the sausage kerbs had a role to play. There are various other incidents but the solution seems to be the same – remove sausage kerbs. It remains to be seen how soon the FIA can completely eradicate the use of sausage kerbs from all levels of motorsport.
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