Canadian Formula 1 driver Lance Stroll believes that the famous Eau Rouge corner on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit should be adjusted. On that part of the circuit, the young Dutch racing driver Dilano van ‘t Hoff died on Saturday due to a crash on a wet track.
“That really needs to be looked at, because that corner is now much too dangerous,” said the Aston Martin driver after his fourth place in the sprint race at the Grand Prix of Austria.
“It’s a tragic day for motorsport. I want everyone to think about what happened there today. We lost two youngsters in that place in the space of four years,” said Stroll, referring to the fatal accident of the French driver Anthoine Hubert at Spa in 2019. “We say it every year, that corner is too dangerous and it really needs to change. Every time we drive through that corner, an accident is lurking.”
Van ‘t Hoff crashed in almost the same place as Hubert; after Eau Rouge the kink follows Raidillon and the drivers drive up Kemmel, the long straight to Les Combes. After Hubert’s death, the circuit did widen the exit lanes and move the guardrails back, but the corner combination has remained the same and, especially in the rain, is life-threatening because the drivers see almost nothing due to the splashing water.
Max Verstappen referred to this when he reflected on the accident after his victory in the sprint race. “We really need to see what we can improve on. I’ve seen footage of that race. It was very wet, so they shouldn’t have restarted that race. You couldn’t see anything through that spray. Guys from the back field go full throttle into that corner , but they don’t see anything. So we should do something to reduce that spray and at least increase safety.”