By Joe Murphy
Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have all commented on an issue that could be life threatening, just days away from the start of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Loose drain covers reared their ugly head again, and not for the first time in recent memory. In Las Vegas last year, loose drains destroyed Carlos Sainz’ Ferrari generating huge controversy as to the safety of the track. The other Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was on the track in Bahrain last week when his car ran over a such a hazard, though it appeared as if the car was not as badly damaged as his teammates last year.
The man from Monaco claimed that having loose drain covers is a “serious issue” and that the issue needs to be addressed quickly because; “it can have big consequences. We have to look into it for the future, for it to not happen again.
“Yesterday we were quite lucky that it didn’t happen… similar to Vegas, but in Vegas it was quite serious for Carlos” (ehodamaged his entire chassis whilst lapping round the US track in 2023).
Drivers from up and down the grid have been appealing to the FIA to come up with a solution to address the issue now, to avoid such events from taking place. Who know, next time it could even have more serious ramifications, considering the speeds the cars can reach.
Lewis Hamilton backed what his future teammate suggested, as his car also hit the drain cover Leclerc did when running near to each other. Hamilton identified drain covers as a “serious issue”. The seven-time World Champion went on to say that; “hopefully the FIA are on top of it, welding these things well in advance before us getting there… we’ve definitely got to be on top of it.”
Current World Champion Max Verstappen shares this sentiment. Though Verstappen spoke about how he hopes future Grand Prix events would have addressed the issue before the drivers arrive to the circuit;” maybe these kinds of things can be checked a bit more… before you start driving in the weekend to double-check that everything is solid is a must for the upcoming tracks, that we don’t have another situation where cars get destroyed… especially with the budget cap in place as well, it’s not nice when these things happen.”
With the problem now raised by several high profile drivers, organisers have elected to fill potential problem areas with concrete to avoid the covers from moving out of place during the on-track action. This is a concern for the FIA, and one they will certainly have to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
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