About F1

Circuit safety

Before a circuit can host F1, the FIA has to inspect it and give it a Grade 1 licence. That's the top level of the FIA's grading system, and it's needed for the fastest cars in the world. The licence covers the track itself, the barriers, the run-off areas, the marshal posts, the medical facilities and much more. Circuits are re-inspected regularly, and the FIA's safety team checks the track again before every race weekend.

Street circuits like Monaco, Singapore and Las Vegas need the same licence as permanent tracks, even though most of their safety features are taken down after the race.

Run-off areas

Run-off is the space between the edge of the track and the barrier. It gives a car that goes off room to slow down before it hits anything. How much run-off a corner needs depends on how fast cars are going and the angle they'd leave the track at. The FIA uses computer simulations of where cars are likely to go off, and how fast, to decide what each corner needs.

There are two main kinds:

  • Gravel traps slow a car down quickly by digging into the stones. They're very good at stopping a car, but a car can dig in and flip, and a driver who goes in is usually out of the race.
  • Asphalt run-off lets a car brake and steer, so drivers can often recover and rejoin. It's safer in many corners, but it also means drivers can run wide without much cost. That's a big part of why track limits became such a talking point.

Many modern circuits mix the two, often with a strip of asphalt next to the track and gravel beyond it. Some have also added gravel back in places where asphalt was letting drivers cut corners.

Barriers

When run-off isn't enough, the barrier has to absorb the impact. Different barriers are used depending on how hard and at what angle a car might hit them.

  • Steel guardrails (often called Armco) and concrete walls are used where cars would only hit at a shallow angle, such as along straights. They're designed to redirect a car rather than stop it.
  • Tyre walls are stacks of old tyres bolted together, usually with a rubber conveyor belt across the front so cars don't snag on them.
  • TecPro barriers are interlocking blocks of foam and plastic. They're used at the places with the highest risk, such as at the end of long straights. For new F1 circuits, the energy-absorbing barriers must pass the FIA's barrier standard.

At some tracks you'll also see SAFER barriers, a steel and foam system first developed for American oval racing.

Debris fences

Behind the barriers there are high fences made of strong steel mesh. Their job is to stop wheels, bodywork and whole cars from flying into marshal posts or spectator areas. Older circuits once used "catch fencing", lines of wire mesh meant to tangle up a car as it went off. It was abandoned decades ago because it could injure the drivers it was meant to protect.

The F1 rules say that a driver who abandons their car on track must get behind both the barrier and the debris fence before they're considered safe.

Kerbs

Kerbs line the edge of the track at corners. Low, flat kerbs let drivers use a bit of extra width. Taller "sausage" kerbs are placed in some spots to stop drivers cutting corners. They work, but they can also launch a car into the air or break its suspension, so the FIA keeps a close eye on where they're used.

Learning from accidents

Most changes to circuit safety come from studying real accidents. The FIA investigates every serious crash in F1 and uses the data from the cars' accident recorders to work out what could be done better. That has led to changes such as moving barriers back, swapping gravel for asphalt or the other way round, raising fences and changing how recovery vehicles work. See marshals and safety features on the car.