Adjustments at Spa-Francorchamps: 'Nothing will be changed'

Van 't Hoff, who was driving in the Formula Regional European Championship, lost his life at the start of Kemmel Straight. The accident occurred a little further from the spot where Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert was killed in 2019. In recent years, track management has already made the necessary adjustments to this stretch of the track, including wider exit lanes. That's all for now, the Grand Prix organisers tell GPblog. "Nothing will be changed," is the answer to the question whether any adjustments will be made before the Belgian Grand Prix?

Eau Rouge blind uphill

"It's for sure quite a dangerous corner," Max Verstappen told on Sunday after the Austrian Grand Prix. "For sure, in Eau Rouge, going up, it is blind, but of course this accident now happened later. I think the only thing that maybe can be improved there is to make more space in terms of trying to move the barriers more out, because at the moment it looks like as soon as you crash, you hit the barrier, you bounce back onto the track quite easily."

Verstappen said earlier that wet weather conditions had played a more prominent role in Van 't Hoff's accident. "I think in the dry, normally it's a bit better. You see, of course, more of what is going on in front of you. I think already the changes they made in Spa, they definitely opened it up a lot more. But it will always be a dangerous corner, but we are going to a lot of tracks where there are dangerous corners, where up until probably there is an accident, you won't say anything. And now, of course, it gets brought up, but I feel it's a bit unfair to just claim it on the track, because I think in the first place you have to look into why did they restart", Verstappen continued.

Perez sees pressure from fans

Sergio Perez agrees with his teammate at Red Bull Racing. The Mexican too feels there is room for improvement coming out of Eau Rouge. Yet most questions Perez also has about why was racing on the soaking wet track at all? "I think sometimes race directors are pushed by probably fans and  social media, people sitting back at home thinking that the circuit looks fine to race, but the visibility is just the most important. And it's not about the leader or the second place. It's about the 10th, 15th, 20th."

Nor does Perez want to do nothing at all after the terrible accident: "So, we really need to force other categories and also in Formula 1 to make sure that we are able to race whenever it's safe for everyone to see at least. The accident can happen, but you cannot have situations where drivers are basically blind and just going flat out, because it's when those big accidents can happen in any series. So, that might mean delaying the start and means that we won't have a start."