Silverstone changes Turn 1 run-off as a result of Zhou crash

Silverstone Circuit has tweaked the run-off area into Turn 1 as a result of Zhou Guanyu's spectacular crash in the 2022 British Grand Prix.

Congestion at the start of the race in the middle of the field led to a contact between the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly and the Mercedes of George Russell.

The Briton was pitched into Zhou's Alfa which was overturned by the contact and skidded down to the first corner and into the gravel trap, where it dug in and somersaulted again over the tyre barrier before coming to rest on its side, wedged between the catch fencing and the barrier.

Miraculously, the Chinese driver was extracted uninjured from the horror crash.

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However, the collapse upon impact of the Alfa's roll hoop led to an investigation by the FIA and to subsequent findings that compelled the governing body to impose more stringent measures for the safety device to improve and strengthen its integrity.

But in response to last year's scary incident, Silverstone has also undertaken an initiative to mitigate the consequences of a similar accident happening in the future.

Silverstone has modified the Turn 1 run-off by removing the entire gravel trap which is now set to be replaced by a large section of asphalt.

"We've done a load of work this winter," Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle told Motorsport.com. "There's a big piece of asphalt out the front rather than the gravel.

"This is to stop them digging in. It's the digging in bit that was the real issue there."

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