F1

SAFER Barrier in Action at Baku

Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #322446
    VMaxMuffin
    Participant

    Something interesting, they’re utilising a SAFER (Steel And Foam Energy Reduction) barrier – or at least some variant on it – around those kinks in the long main straight (at least on the exit of Turn 19):

    As far as I know this is the first time this has been used on a track outside America, and almost certainly the first time it’s been used on an F1 track (except for Indianapolis of course).

    For those who don’t know, SAFER barriers were developed by IndyCar and NASCAR for use in ovals, where the high speed but shallow angle crashes made tyre barriers an inappropriate way of protecting drivers from the concrete walls, particularly on the outside of the track. Honestly I’m surprised it’s taken F1 so long to take advantage of this solution, given that there are other tracks with similarly high speed sections that could benefit from this solution, such as Monaco (around Massenet, the Tunnel and the Swimming Pool), Montreal (exit of Turn 4, Turn 5, the Wall of Champions) and the end of the lap in the Brazil (through those kinks at the top of the hill). Apparently, the biggest problem with this type of barrier is that it works best when tuned to the kinetic energy cars will have when impacting, so on circuits that host lots of different types of racing, that can be difficult. But, ovals that host both IndyCar and NASCAR seem to get around this issue.

Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.