When Mark Webber in failed to overtake Heikki Kovalainen, the rear wheel of the Lotus drivers, met the Australian was just a passenger. His car lifted into the air, turned 180 degrees in the air rang with the cockpit down on the tarmac, turned 180 degrees again and then slid with even high speed into the tire barrier. The Red Bull driver was able to enter the car luckily unhurt on their own.

“Well, you always need two for a tango, right?” Webber said in an interview with the ‘BBC’. ‘In this incident we were both involved. I looked for the best wind shadow lookout to do the job and to pass him. He defended himself pretty hard, and inside, blocked suddenly become very aggressive.
“Finally, I was surprised by the fact, as he braked early,” said the experienced racer. “This is what caught me cold. It did not matter where I was, or how close I was driving in the slipstream, I still had everything under control.”

“This was a horrible incident. Obviously, I was surprised about what happened on the access to this curve. At first I thought, ‘Okay, it me pass’ can be, because the speed difference was of course enormous. Then he started, the door , zuzuschmeißen and he showed this little maneuver. I thought ‘What’s he doing there? “.”

“Yes, he was slowed by the gas, or whatever. It turned out that this was the case 80 meters earlier than I had slowed down in the previous round. This means that this was the case in a different category than in the few laps before. “

“I like it when the walls are close to the track and if you can not afford any mistakes, because that is challenging and makes driving more fun,” said Kubica. “Even in the Macau Formula 3 I especially liked or in Formula 1 Monaco. The only street circuit, which I do not like is Singapore. Why am I not there, the track may, but I can not say for sure.”

The discussion is now about to go in the direction the formula 1, for among the fans, the discontent with Bernie Ecclestone’s house and court architect Hermann Tilke increasing. The German has built in recent years superb facilities such as Shanghai, Abu Dhabi, but is criticized for its routes have no character. Many fans believe that the idea of safety is partly already taken too seriously.

But: “That just is not that,” said Kubica. “I’m a fan of street circuits, but also a fan of security, because I had here a serious accident. It depends on the balance between risk and safety. The formula one has become, thanks to the FIA and thanks to the team much more secure. If I would indeed like this happens an accident ten years ago, today I would not be sitting here, maybe more. ”

In discussion forums time and again the argument that run-off should not be paved, as this driving mistake will be punished only lightly. We used to cut the chicane in from Montreal, was quick views of the front wing off, now it is hardly out of the wind shadow of the man in front. But the tarmac run-off areas have their advantages.
Rosberg against gravel beds

“In turn eight in Istanbul, many people took off,” says Nico Rosberg. ‘If there is a gravel and would have had to close the track standing wall, there would have been serious accidents. The risk is mainly that the car in the gravel into place and somersaults. That would be dangerous, so I think it is a good development, in such a tarmac run-off to have curves. ”

Felipe Massa puts it even more plainly: “Turn Eight in Monaco would not be very nice,” the Ferrari driver. The drivers love the one hand the great challenges such as Spa-Francorchamps Suzuka or most are, but at the same time conscious of the fact that the formula is an extremely dangerous and the security therefore must not be left out of sight. Lewis Hamilton is among those who see the rather loose.

“My intention is only to the asphalt between the white lines,” the McLaren star. “The FIA makes this line around a great job in terms of security, so we need to focus not. The most important thing is how cool the track – and that is between the white lines.” Hamilton also insists that it is “a fine line” between safety and danger aspect.