Robert Kubica's horrific crash at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve during the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix has forced organisers to revise the section leading to the final hairpin.
Although the track itself will be largely unaltered, safety provisions at the point where the Pole's
BMW Sauber exploded into a shower of parts and carbon-fibre, before being launched into a series of rolls back across the track, finally coming to rest in the run-off of the hairpin itself.
Having reviewed footage of the accident, which began when Kubica clipped the back of
Jarno Trulli's
Toyota at the left-hand corner leading to the hairpin, the
FIA instructed the circuit to improve the design on the safety measures at the left-hander, and a new wall will be completed ahead of next month's grand prix, providing any errant cars with a less acute angle of impact.
"If the same accident occurs this year, the car will slide on [the new] wall instead of hitting the wall in the middle of the hairpin," Francois Dumontier, executive vice-president of GP
F1, told the Canadian press, "We've added a safety fence."
Changes to the safety measures and a fresh batch of asphalt will be the focal points of a $4.5m overhaul at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, but the teams and drivers will also find their on-track accommodation more palatable than of late.
Given that the circuit is built on an island in the middle of the St Lawrence, and was originally the site of Expo '67, the paddock has not been afforded much room, but changes have now been made to provide the teams with a little more comfort.
"They will be pleased to see new equipment for them in the paddock," Dumontier continued, "There will be offices for engineers, a kitchen for support staff and, in response to a long-standing complaint, private bathrooms for each team."
