The Grand Tour's Abbie Eaton Slams FIA After Yet Another Sausage Kerb Incident

Abbie Eaton has asked the FIA for answers after another incident seriously hurt another driver.

Sausage kerb controversy in motorsports has once again been brought to the forefront after a Formula 4 race in Imola, Italy, left a driver with serious injuries. This is one of a number of injuries drivers have received from these kerbs. The incident, that saw Irish driver Adam Fitzgerald fracture three vertebrae in his back, has simply fanned the flames on the subject, with The Grand Tour test driver Abbie Eaton commenting on the incident on Twitter. 

Fitzgerald of the RPM team, lost control of the car before it span, hitting a sausage kerb backwards which launched it into the air. Both the car and driver sustained serious damage when it returned to the ground. While kerbs have traditionally been used to define the limits of the track, they have also been known to pose a significant risk to drivers when not designed and placed correctly.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Race Performance Motorsport (@rpm.team_)

Eaton, driving in the W Series at the time, made a similar move at the Circuit of the Americas, resulting in her sustaining two fractured vertebrae. Branding sausage kerbs "ridiculous", Eaton complained fiercely against them. 

Following this, Sebastian Vettel, Grand Prix Drivers Association director, released a statement:

“I think the thing is that we have to take these sausage kerbs off, because we had two injuries that were unnecessary.

“And I'd rather have an endless conversation about track limits, and maybe one time you're unhappy, another time you're happy.

“I think we can find solutions to that. But the main thing is that we find a solution to broken backs, which is taking off these sausage kerbs.”

Now, Eaton has taken to Twitter to slam the FIA:

Yet another driver sustains a broken spine due to sausage kerbs at Imola. @fia I thought we were making progress with sausage kerb removal??

What’s with the silence @FRegionalAlpine? We need to beat the drum until change happens. #FIA #SausageKerb #SpinalInjury pic.twitter.com/yVAONviHgh

— Abbie Eaton (@AbbieEaton44) April 23, 2023

"Yet another driver sustains a broken spine due to sausage kerbs at Imola @Fia," she wrote. "I thought we were making progress with sausage kerb removal?? What’s with the silence @FRegionalAlpine? We need to beat the drum until change happens."

It is now crucial that racing circuits evaluate the use of these sausage kerbs and their placement to ensure driver safety. A thorough ban must be introduced.