Coulthard: “Let’s ban the charging of Eau Rouge, otherwise we risk a catastrophe”

How to avoid accidents? During the Japanese Grand Prix, Haas’ Oliver Bearman went off the track to avoid Franco Colapinto’s Alpine, which was slowing dramatically as his car was recovering energy. This accident brought back into vogue the fears of the riders at the beginning of the season, who had warned the Federation, but had remained unheeded.
In recent days Nicholas Tombazis, technical director of the FIA, had admitted: “We had talked about it, but it was not easy to act before having some time to analyze some parameters”. Coulthard’s idea: no-charging zones During the Up to Speed podcast, David Coulthard analysed: “Because of the way these engines recharge energy, you can be surprised by a speed difference of 50 or 60 km/h and this endangers the lives of the drivers. Take the Eau Rouge in Belgium, there you go over a hill and you can’t see what’s happening on the other side. If a car suddenly slows down to recharge while you’re following it at full speed, yes risks a catastrophe.” Coulthard therefore proposed: “There are some corners that should be exempt from energy recovery and at those points you might decide that you simply cannot slow down. You can’t surprise the drivers with such large speed differences in places of limited visibility.”