FIA will "learn from mistakes" after Miami driver safety rebuke

Sainz, Ferrari, Miami, 2022 — Photo: © LAT Images

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FIA will "learn from mistakes" after Miami driver safety rebuke

Calls from drivers to add Tecpro in Miami were dismissed

Ewan Gale

Thursday 12 May 2022 12:44

Lando Norris hopes the FIA will 'learn from its mistakes' after failing to act upon F1 safety concerns at the Miami Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon both crashed at the exit of turn 13 and the entry of turn 14 in near-identical incidents in second and final practice respectively, hitting the exposed concrete wall.

After his crash on Friday, Ferrari driver Sainz called for the addition of a Tecpro barrier to limit the impact of crashes.

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The FIA dismissed concerns but when Ocon crashed his Alpine at a relatively low speed, the 51g registered impact drew further concern from the grid.

The A522 required a chassis change, whilst Sainz experienced neck pain throughout the weekend.

Ocon labelled the sport's governing body as "unacceptable" after further calls for Tecpro barriers were rebuked and asked whether the discussion would continue between drivers and the FIA, McLaren driver Norris said: "I don't know.

"I think we will discuss it as drivers with the FIA in Barcelona. I guess we learn from mistakes, I hope they learn from what happened.

"As drivers, we understand things differently to someone who isn't driving the car and I think it is just important that when we give advice, it is taken on board and there are actions done, especially when I think there is a much bigger consequence of not having the Tecpro there than having a Tecpro there for instance, and something simple.

"Especially when this happens once, we said something, nothing was done, it happened again, it was even worse so I think people just need to listen to us, we are the ones driving the cars, we know more than they do in many things and they know better than us in some, we just need to work together more.

"At the minute, it doesn't seem like we get heard."

FIA must "take action" on driver feedback

The ire surrounding the decision not to place a Tecpro for safety reasons has only been heightened by the continued persistence of the FIA to crack down on drivers wearing jewellery during races.

With that agenda being detailed due to safety, some drivers see a conflict in messaging when situations such as the Miami barrier arise and asked if it was a case of the FIA simply not listening, Norris replied: "With some things yes.

"With quite a big safety point from this weekend, a costly one as well - it cracked a tub for Esteban - then yeah, they just need to take action on a bit more of what we say."

Additional reporting by Ian Parkes