“Eau Rouge” modified for increased driver safety

Jarno Zaffeli, the founder of Dromo Circuit Design, spoke about the changes made to Eau Rouge. The challenge was significant. Indeed, it was necessary to find a compromise between safety and the desire to preserve the uniqueness of this turn. Ayrton Senna did not hesitate to express his love for this circuit and specifically for this corner.

« If you remove “Eau Rouge”, you remove the reason why I am a pilot. »

This turn is highly renowned for its unpredictability, the thrill it generates, and its unique layout. For some, “Eau Rouge” is the most iconic corner on the entire F1 calendar.

A necessary modernization

Any redesign or modification to such a legendary track section must be done with the utmost respect and great attention to every detail. The real challenge is to preserve the original feeling of the turn and the track, while adding safety and improvements.

« Improving the security of the iconic “Eau Rouge” while preserving its unique character was a real challenge, said Jarno Zaffeli.

The objective was to modernize and improve security in “Eau Rouge”. We were aware that the floods had caused a lot of damage. We determined how to restore the area and enhance the racing spectacle by reducing bumps, enabling precipitation drainage, and generally making it safer. While ensuring that the most iconic turn in motorsport retains its unique character.

A great challenge

Making modifications to this circuit is not an easy task, especially with the highly variable weather conditions in Belgium, sometimes with quite low temperatures. It has also been necessary to adapt to new regulations and new tires.

In the design and subsequent developments, we took into account the new regulations and new tires. We had over 20 different designs of “Eau Rouge”. We spent several days with professional drivers in our internal simulators to gather their feedback. We then spent two full days with professional drivers at the Vi-Grade simulation center, supervised by Thierry Boutsen and Emanuele Pirro; between October and November 2021, the work was refined in the simulators for Formula 1 and GT series with Marco Bonanomi, in order to obtain valuable feedback. This work greatly helped us in choosing the final design, which was then submitted to the FIA Circuit Commission before the work was carried out in the early months of the 2022 season. Additionally, we had our internal circuit analysis, a LIDAR scan of the area, and then a comprehensive analysis to finalize all the details.

Any positive feedback?

Such changes can be poorly perceived by purists or even some drivers who may sometimes regret the old version of this turn. But for now, the feedback is rather positive at all levels after the 24 Hours of Spa, which took place from July 28th to 31st.

We received very positive feedback from the teams, race engineers, tire manufacturers, and drivers. The most interesting fact for us was that no accidents occurred throughout the entire race weekend at “Eau Rouge – Raidillon” after we designed and paved it.

Now the question arises as to whether the new generation of Formula 1 cars are suited to this new version of Eau Rouge. In any case, Jarno Zaffeli is sure of one thing: the drivers will still be able to take this corner at full throttle and it will provide opportunities. The answer will be revealed on Friday with the first free practice session.