“That’s what it should be”: Norris satisfied with Mugello’s punishing confines despite crash

2020 Tuscan Grand Prix Ferrari 1000

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Lando Norris said the limited room to make a mistake at Mugello is part of the track’s appeal despite damaging his McLaren in a crash during the second practice session.

He spun into a barrier after dropping a wheel into a gravel trap, which pitched his car sideways. The front of the McLaren was damaged in the impact and Norris was unable to take further part in the session.

However Norris said he’d rather have tracks bordered by gravel traps than more forgiving run-off areas.

“As much as I hate that there was gravel because of ending up crashing and damaging the car, it’s better like this,” he said. “I think it’s more tricky, but it’s more challenging. That’s what it should be like. It’s not ideal, but it’s what happens sometimes.”

Norris said the crash “felt a lot worse when I was in the car, than what it looks like.

“I did do some damage to the steering and the rear but nothing major. I don’t think I damaged too much on the floor or the wings, apart from the front wing, obviously. It’s not terrible, it could’ve been worse.

“But it was a small mistake from my side which was quite costly. Cost me a lot of high fuel running in second practice. But it is what it is.”

Other drivers also praised Mugello’s unforgiving run-off areas. “It’s an old-school track and that’s a positive,” said Kevin Magnussen.

“There’s no Tarmac run-off anywhere. It’s a big consequence if you make a mistake and that adds why this track is cool.”

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2020 Tuscan Grand Prix Ferrari 1000

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    7 comments on ““That’s what it should be”: Norris satisfied with Mugello’s punishing confines despite crash”

    1. I can’t imagine any true racer or fan would disagree

    2. Grosjean says the run-offs are fine, haas agrees… the run-offs are not enough for f1. F1 is going backwards. Don’t get me wrong, If only FOM knew how to film the track I’d love it. I love it in motogp. One thing is to punish the other is being unsafe, this track would never meet fia safety standards 5 or 10 years ago.

      1. Not saying that I don’t think Mugello is one of the more dangerous tracks of this year’s calendar (especially considering the lack of tyre barriers in front of some walls), but it has been Grade 1 for a while now. F1 was testing there in 2012 and I found a forum thread from 2011 where it was listed as a Grade 1 track.

      2. It’s one thing to grandfather in tracks like Spa or Monaco which would never be approved as new circuits today, but adding to the calendar a track like Mugello which while exciting to watch is too unsafe for modern F1 cars with their ability to take these corners at 250 km/h plus.

        There’s no run off at all for the speeds they are doing in these corners and the gravel and grass run offs can cause these cars to roll.

        The pitlane entry is inadequate too.

        The new regulations were brought in after 2016 to make the cars a lot faster to improve the spectacle which had gone backwards 2014-16 after the end of the V8 era.

        For many years there was a concerted effort to suppress cornering speeds for safety but that’s gone out of the window in recent years.

        I feel like Baku is a disaster in the making especially with the final section leading the main straight, and was concerned when Zandvoort was put on the calendar because it’s a small, fast circuit with inadequate run off. Similar to Mugello in a way.

        At the other extreme are circuit like Paul Ricard which no-one really enjoys.

    3. Just remove green concrete and replace with grass. So they would be more careful.

    4. Too many kids on the track these days.
      Tsk tsk.

    5. This incident proves that Mugello doesn’t need any policing on track limits as there’s already a ‘natural’ penalty for going very wide since gravel and grass are on every corner-exit.

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