The FIA is currently undertaking a review into the first incident, which occurred after Russell was caught out by Fernando Alonso deliberately braking earlier for Albert Park’s Turn 6 as part of an attempt by the Aston Martin driver to disrupt the chasing Mercedes racer.
Alonso was penalised for his actions post-race in Melbourne, a decision which has split opinions among F1 drivers at this weekend’s event in Japan.
Motorsport.com understands that several possibilities for altering the corner are now being considered for F1’s return to Albert Park next year, which follows calls for such a development from the drivers even before this latest high-profile incident at the corner.
Russell’s crash followed concerns over the corner’s safety coming into focus in 2023 when Albon crashed there, which caused the first of three red flags in last year’s Melbourne race.
There were then two major incidents at the spot in F1’s recent visit to Australia – when Albon was pitched into the barriers opposite Turn 6 in FP1 after hitting the corner’s exit kerbs hard and then when Russell’s car nearly rolled following the incident with Alonso.
Turn 6 was among the corners changed as part of the Melbourne event’s major re-profiling ahead of its post-pandemic return to the F1 calendar in 2022.
As part of this, the right-hander’s racing line was opened up and so made considerably faster before it feeds into a long acceleration zone.
Options apparently now being considered for changing the corner include a re-profiling to reduce car speeds there, adding an asphalt runoff area to the outside instead of the current gravel trap, or adjusting the barriers behind the corner to try and prevent cars from bouncing back towards the track in the event of another crash.
The idea of changing the corner was brought up during the post-FP2 drivers’ meeting in Melbourne this year, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri also suggesting it had already become “a bit of a discussion… not last weekend, but in Melbourne” prior to the 2024 event.
“Maybe there’s a couple of things that we could improve there a bit,” Piastri added at Suzuka on Thursday.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team, talks to the media
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
“We’ve seen quite a few accidents where cars have kind of been bounced back onto the track, which is something that we’ve spoken about, and I think it should be addressed.
“Maybe just the angle of the wall or potentially even the…
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