George Russell calls for greater use of Tecpro barriers to increase F1 safety

Williams

Russell calls for greater use of Tecpro barriers to increase F1 safety

Jack Aitken and Luca Ghiotto walked away from a shocking F2 crash

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Friday 2 October 2020 16:20

George Russell has called for the increased use of Tecpro barriers after Jack Aitken and Luca Ghiotto walked away unscathed from a frightening incident in a Formula 2 race in Russia at the weekend.

The pair collided at high speed at the Sochi Autodrom, spearing off into the barriers, but thankfully with both drivers escaping unharmed moments before Ghiotto's car went up in flames.

Russell, who won the 2018 F2 championship, was involved in a horrific crash of his own earlier this season when Antonio Giovinazzi's Alfa Romeo ricocheted back onto the racing line after spinning off at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

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The British driver believes such an incident would have been avoided had Tecpro barriers have lined the Fagnes corner instead of the traditional tyre walls.

"I think the Tecpro is very interesting," said the Williams driver. "It obviously took the speed out of it really well.

"What was probably quite nice is it didn't have a rebound effect, which is what you would usually have with tyres, as you saw with Giovinazzi's incident at Spa where he hit the tyre barrier and rebounded back into the line of sight of others.

"The only negative is Tecpro went over the top of the car, the car ended up on fire and he [Ghiotto] was very fortunate to be able to get out of it.

"Had that Tecpro been over the top of his helmet, it may have been a different story. All-in-all, to see a crash of that speed is shocking and the way they walked away from it was refreshing for drivers."

Although F2 is running 18-inch wheels this season ahead of F1's switch to the specification in 2022, Russell has shrugged off suggestions they played a significant part in the incident.

"We would have seen just as much of an incident on the 13-inch [wheels]," added Russell.

"Obviously, it was really positive to see those guys get out of the car so quick because it was such a huge impact.

"It was a scary speed and I guess it shows what a great job the FIA and F2 have been doing to create such a strong car."

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