FIA Raises Monaco’s Chicanes Kerbs to Slow Down Drivers

Higher kerbs have been installed at key sections of the Monaco circuit ahead of this week's Formula One race. The decision was taken after the FIA decided that higher kerbs would stop drivers from cutting through them at high speed, thus improving safety.

Last year, race director Charlie Whiting warned the drivers about cutting the kerbs and installed observers at the Nouvelle (Turn 11) and Swimming Pool (Turn 16) chicanes. It is at those corners that new "higher elements have been added behind the existing kerbs" for the 2010 event, the governing body confirmed on Tuesday.

The FIA also said several parts of the circuit have been resurfaced. The pitlane surface is all new, as is the stretch from Ste Devote corner to the junction of Avenue de Monte Carlo. Also re-surfaced are sections from Place du Casino to the Tunnel du Portier entry and from the tunnel exit to the chicane.

F1 photographer Mark Sutton inspected the new kerbs on Tuesday and remarked on Twitter that the drivers will "not want to touch them!" Sutton was also disappointed to find new debris fencing at the Rascasse corner, recalling that in previous years "you could just lean over the barrier and shoot as the driver went past at speed".

The Circuit de Monaco has 33 kilometers of safety rails, 5,000 tires in tire barriers, 554 meters of Tecpro barriers and 20,000 square meters of protective wire netting.

Circuit safety features include: 650 race marshals in 22 marshal sectors, 43 intervention stations, seven ‘express’ fire vehicles and three extraction vehicles, along with 120 professional fire fighters and 500 fire extinguishers – equivalent to one every 15 meters.