The FIA has replaced part of the grass strip at the Hungaroring’s Turn 5 ahead of Formula 1’s 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix after it contributed to Yuki Tsunoda’s qualifying crash.
The RB driver crashed hard exiting the long right-hander on his final lap in Q3 – smashing the left-hand side of his car against the barriers behind the corner’s runoff and leaving Tsunoda bruised.
While Tsunoda ran out wide pushing at the end of Q3, his position on the grass strip lining the right-hand edge of the runoff meant he was vulnerable to a problem that had appeared at this point of the track.
“It was mentioned in the drivers' briefing,” RB CEO Peter Bayer told Autosport. “The ground sank a little and there is a wave [created by the bump] that has the effect like a sausage kerb. He found it.”
After an inspection – with Bayer revealing FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem had told “his team to take a closer look” at the area – the governing body has now had the last 4m of the grass strip excavated and filled in with gravel.
This means that if a driver were to run wide as Tsunoda did during Sunday’s race, they would still find the track limits deterrent but should be able to carry on without being launched up on a trajectory heading towards the Turn 5 exit barriers.
An FIA statement supplied to Autosport about the overnight work said: "Following Yuki Tsunoda’s incident in qualifying, the FIA has reviewed all available data as is customary with any on-track incident.
"After consulting with the circuit, overnight changes were made, and the last four metres of the grass strip behind the exit kerb at Turn 5 have been replaced with gravel.”
Tsunoda ended up qualifying 10th and unable to improve as a result of his crash, while his RB team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was able to nip ahead to ninth in the last-minute scramble when Q3 resumed.
“Both were in Q3 for the second time this year,” Bayer said of RB’s result. “Honestly, after Barcelona, Spielberg and Silverstone, it's good to be at the front again.
“The car was really well set up here. I think a lot is possible here [in the race]."
When asked if the Hungaroring’s lower-speed layout is boosting RB after its difficult run of races since it introduced its problematic Barcelona upgrade, Bayer replied: "The slow corners here help us.
“Daniel's car, for example, was completely back to Miami spec. It really suited him there. Everything came together for him here. The high temperature, the soft tyre and then the car in Miami spec, and also our strength in slow corners, which was noticeable here."
