Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFormula 1

Eau Rouge kerb removed at Spa

The FIA has removed a new kerb added at Eau Rouge ahead of qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.

With cars able to cut part of the left hander at Radillon - at the top of the climb out of Eau Rouge - a larger kerb was installed at the apex to deter drivers. However, concerns were raised at the driver's briefing due to the corner being blind as cars climb sharply uphill.

Following a number of incidents in GP2 and GP3 which saw cars becoming momentarily airborne having hit the kerb, the FIA has now announced the kerb has been removed ahead of Saturday's running.

Having made the change, the FIA will now police whether drivers cut any part of the corner in order to gain an advantage.

"Following the driver's meeting yesterday ... the orange kerb on the apex of Turn 4 has been removed," technical director Charlie Whiting wrote in a note to the teams.

"Further to the discussion in the meeting, and as a result of the change to the kerb in Turn 4, a report will only be made to the stewards if a driver has exceeded the track limits (principally but not limited to the areas behind the kerbs in turns 4 and 15) and is suspected of gaining an advantage from doing so."

Click here for a gallery of the biggest crashes at Spa-Francorchamps

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.