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Formula E drivers concerned with Misano sausage kerbs

The all-electric championship will stage a double-header at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, a venue which is predominantly used for bike racing.

It means there are a number of large run-off areas on the exit of corners that make policing track limits difficult for car racing.

To deter drivers from running too wide and gaining an unfair advantage, several sausage kerbs have been placed on the exit of corners, which has led to drivers voicing concerns due to their size.

“I don’t think any driver here is very happy with the sausages,” said Envision’s Robin Frijns.

“For track limits, yeah it’s fine, but if you do a mistake or you get pushed wide by another car, you drive over them, you fly like we saw in Monza at the last corner a few years ago [with Alex Peroni in the 2019 FIA Formula 3 championship].

“I think it’s very severe, the sausages are way too big for us. It’s good for GTs but we are not [using] a GT car. I hope they reconsider it for the race.”

Abt’s Lucas di Grassi went around the venue with race director Scott Elkins prior to any running and believes that the situation could have been worse.

"From what could have been done, I was pretty happy with the result," he said.

Lucas di Grassi, ABT CUPRA Formula E Team track walk (Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images)

"We modified the chicane a bit [Turns 8/9] and we still think it’s necessary to remove the kerb in one place [Turn 11] but it’s not as bad as Valencia, the track limits. They’ve done a good job."

The first practice session of the meeting took place on Friday evening, following a 30-minute session for rookie drivers earlier in the day, with the placement of the sausage kerbs set to be discussed prior to further running over the weekend.

"It’s in discussion, that one [Turn 11]. I think Turn 1 is up for discussion as well," said Abt’s Nico Muller.

"The one I see as a bit of a potential problem are the ones on the exit of Turn 13 because you have the merge of the Attack Mode right before, so I think it’s a given we’re going to see cars going side-by-side through Turn 13. I hope these will not become an issue."

The long, wide straights and fast corners of the track in Misano are reminiscent of the layout used in Portland last season, where a large number of overtakes took place.

This was due to the peloton style of racing with drivers wanting to save energy in the slipstream, meaning there were huge lift and coast efforts by drivers to drop back in the pack and a similar style of racing is expected this weekend.

Championship leader Pascal Wehrlein said: "We will see a lot of energy saving in the beginning of the race and people not wanting to lead the race and trying to be in slipstream.

"At a certain moment the race will pick up pace and then you need to be in the front group to be able to get on the podium or win."

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