{"id":38956,"date":"2025-08-01T08:35:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T08:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/38956\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T08:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T08:35:09","slug":"fernando-alonso-proposes-bold-change-to-combat-f1-wet-weather-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/38956\/","title":{"rendered":"Fernando Alonso proposes bold change to combat F1 wet weather issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fernando Alonso<\/a> has proposed a method of combating the problem of high levels of spray on Formula 1<\/a> circuits, in order to curb danger amid wet-weather racing.<\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s Belgian Grand Prix reopened previous debate about the level of visibility when racing in wet conditions, with the race start being delayed by over an hour.<\/p>\n

The FIA\u2019s decision to allow the heavy rainfall to pass before beginning proceedings was criticised by drivers, including Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n

However, it was reported that some drivers complained of low visibility, therefore vindicating race control\u2019s move to err on the side of caution.<\/p>\n

Alonso, whose career has encompassed many eras of F1 car and circuit, has theorised that the surfaces on some of the tracks today are causing spray to kick up worse than had previously done.<\/p>\n

Speaking to media including Motorsport Week ahead of this weekend\u2019s Hungarian Grand Prix<\/a>, Alonso said that the tyres were also a factor, but believed that newer layers of tarmac were a significant cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the tyres, the wide tyres definitely made visibility worse,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd probably some of the asphalt in the circuits, they are a little bit different than what they\u2019ve been in the past. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we raced with a lot of water in Sepang [the Malaysian Grand Prix] and it was always okay.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now this new generation of asphalt, which is very black and very grippy in dry conditions, is like a mirror in wet conditions. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd yeah, visibility is not nice. But I don\u2019t know what we can do there or what the tyres can do in a very rough tarmac.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alonso cited public motorways as an example of how it can be done, but did acknowledge that slick tyres may suffer in dry conditions if such a change was implemented.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd even some of the highways, I have said many times that the highways, there are some that they have zero spray,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if we implement that tarmac in all the circuits as a normal rule, we will have zero spray.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen it will be a huge degradation, probably, in dry conditions \u2013 I don\u2019t know. But then we can work from that theme and have a starting point. But I\u2019m just a driver.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Spaniard has suggested some F1 tracks retarmac its surfaces to allow for minimal spray<\/p>\n

Sainz takes Alonso approach on \u2018certain kind of tarmac\u2019<\/p>\n

Alonso\u2019s countryman Carlos Sainz corroborated the theory, saying that a potential relaying of asphalt might be a solution that could benefit racing to go ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always thought Formula 1 should almost like, if possible, innovate and try something different,\u201d the Williams driver told media including Motorsport Week. \u201cI think there are certain kind of tarmacs that if you would put them on a straight line there would be no spray, and they exist, but circuits don\u2019t have them. Most circuits don\u2019t have it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sainz speculated that recent big accidents, some of them fatal, on the Spa-Francorchamps track, were also a contributing factor in the FIA\u2019s cautious approach to the race.<\/p>\n

He suggested that a more public communication of this intent might have been beneficial for the fans watching the race, as many were left impatiently waiting for on track action to commence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end the biggest problem for us is visibility,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s what keeps us from racing. I think Spa is a very particular case where there\u2019s been a very dark past at this track. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe FIA consciously took a very conservative approach and they warned us on Thursday that they would take a very conservative approach. <\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe we should have done a better job in communicating that or they should have communicated to the fans, to the world, how we\u2019re going to play very easy because of its dark past and this is what\u2019s happened in the past and why we\u2019re going to play safe on Sunday. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s for everyone maybe to have a bit more awareness but I do think we could have obviously raced a bit earlier than what we did. <\/p>\n

\u201cGoing a bit earlier after the red flag and the Safety Car could have lasted a bit less long. But you also need to put yourself in the shoes of the people that press the button to say go. <\/p>\n

\u201cThen there\u2019s a massive accident because of a lack of visibility and something fatal could happen. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey are in the end responsible for that situation to occur if you press the button.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand also the conservative approach they took even though as a racing driver I wish we could have raced a bit earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE \u2013 Lando Norris sheds light on \u2018incorrect setting\u2019 that hampered F1 Belgian GP win bid<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fernando Alonso has proposed a method of combating the problem of high levels of spray on Formula 1…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[16444,49,48,578,3018,576,577,28285,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-38956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-belgiangp","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-f1","12":"tag-fernando-alonso","13":"tag-formula-1","14":"tag-formula1","15":"tag-hungariangp","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}