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I have driven over THOUSANDS of kerbs in my racing career and they are different at every track.
You need to treat each kerb with respect as some can send you into the barrier if you get too greedy while others can be used to your advantage.
There are so many types of kerb, but I have never really stopped to think why they are so different or even why they are there in the first place.
So let’s get into it
There are five types of kerb I can think of:
They are:
Painted - these are straightforward. They are lines that are just painted onto the track with nonslip paint.
Standard - These are the most common. They are slightly raised, made of serrated metal and bolted to the ground.
.
Carpets - Not technically a “kerb” but part of the kerb structure and used more frequently in F1, so worth the mention. They are made of artificial grass, usually outside of the standard kerb. And are there to punish you if you go too wide, as they are VERY slippery, especially in the wet.
The problem with these are they have started to be paved and painted green to look like grass but aren’t anywhere near as slippery.
And as Mario Andretti once said - “if you pave it, I will drive over it.” Or as NASCAR drivers say - “if it’s grey - it’s okay”.
I would have to agree with Mario there - what’s the point of having paved green concrete? Just stick some grass there - if it isn’t broken, dont fix it.
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#Formula1 #F1 #Kerbs
Funny how kerbs were designed to prevent cutting corners but ended up being part of the racing line 😂
@@glitter_fart did you even listen to the video 😂 there’s used for both now
@@glitter_fart 8:03
@@Legend.Cam42 you don't need to watch this video to know that
why do you spell it like that
@@IgnitionP because he's 🤢 british
Wow! So it was Marlboro that made the kerbs red and white! Amazing...
Not the first time. Coca Cola made Father Christmas's uniform red and white back in the 1920's and it's become the "traditional" way of depicting him since (he originally was portrayed as having black or brown clothing).
@@darransmith32 Coke made him old and fat too, not just the suit.
@@tippyc2 TBF Sinter Klaus was almost always depicted as older due to when Saint Nicholas did a lot of his gift giving he was an older man. Of course Sinter Klaus is a combo of Germanic, Nordic, and in general "Pagan" (AKA anything that isn't Christian) winter traditions combined with Saint Nicholas. And modern day Santa Claus is just a Capitalist Idea to make people (especially those with lower incomes) feel like they need to spend large amounts of money to show "love". Essentially, USA being good ole' USA.
@@tippyc2 coca cola zero?
@@darransmith32 kerbs in F1 can be problematic sometimes.
Bummed you didn't mention the hyper abrasive paint in France. I think that should be used more universally. Even if it doesn't COMPLETELY stop a car. It can scrub the tires enough to warrant caution in tight situations. Great vid regardless!
Really is next best thing or arguably better yhan gravel
It does absolutely nothing to prevent gaining an advantage. It's purpose is to slow down cars skidding towards the barriers. Remember, the current iteration of Le Castellet called "Paul Ricard HTTT" was never designed to host racing events. HTTT stands for High Tech Test Track. For years it was used for testing only, being essentially the safest track in the world, if you want to test an expensive road or race car and take it to its limits with no fear of writing it off. HTTT began hosting races only around a decade ago and owners began adding spectator areas.
I don't like them I think grass should be there drivers should be punished for overstepping track limits
Paul Ricard has huge problems with track limits because of that design. Gravel is way better; more punishing and slows the car down better.
@@juliusfaller5585 also like the guys said, the f1 layout is literally a testing layout
I watched circuit racing for years, and then started watching rallying & was blown away at how deeply they can cut corners due to their setups. It'd be fun to watch a rally car tackle circuits & use unorthodox racing lines that would only be feasible to them.
Ive done that on assetto corsa, in the right places, you can really take a liberty with your line!
Rally cross then i guess
Well you would just cut every corner in that case and not even bother with the circuit.
@@unthenner5519 be real. there's a difference between driving onto the grass and ignoring it all; and still respecting track limits but being able to straddle curves and such much easier.
rally or rally cross ?? the first are on roads, the second on specific " "tracks" " with laps
Sausage curbs are just awful.
They must be banned, period.
They are delicious
Agreed.
Not according to TrackMania
They should have just kept slightly higher angle kerbs. Since 1998 they've been flattening kerbs way too much to the point that now most "kerbs" are just painted tarmac. And then they add sausage kerbs anyway to launch the car??? And removing gravel and sand traps too for the very unappealing astro turf. Very confusing
About the paved green concrete, I think it's done because the grass never get the chance to grow with all the wheels cutting the corner. The dirt gives a cheap effect on tv, so they paved it and painted it green (sometimes with sponsors) to have a better look.
That makes a lot of sense.
Astroturf, or artificial grass then. Would be disadvantageous when driven over, but quickly replaceable should it become too worn or damaged.
Couldn't they have green plastic instead?
Literally in this video he mentions fake plastic turf, why not use that instead? If it's concrete and flat, it is going to be used as part of the track (even at the expense of penalties sometime). Green roads don't have enough of a downside so they get used for overtaking and just generally taking alternate lines, so it should just be road with the kerb after it, or be replaced with turf.
@@kevinxodemonthand you think driving over AstroTurf won’t damage it like grass?
Launching curbs into the sky 😱
Apologies if I missed it, but a shout out to Abbie Eaton and the work she is doing to try to remove these dangerous kerbs would be appropriate in this video.
Nope you didn’t miss it, I was waiting too for him to mention Abbie but disappointed that it didn’t come up, and it happened only last year!
@@paperplane1471 What an incredibly ignorant opinion. Sausage kerbs become a problem when a driver loses control of their car, inadvertently crashes into the kerb, and then gets launched into the air. Replacing sausage kerbs with gravel would have the same effect of limiting the track since it has no traction, nobody wants to drive over that. But if a car gets onto the gravel anyway it will slide into a wall or even a safe runoff area. This would greatly limit the potential for injury and reduce damage to the car/track.
@paper plane We don't need roll cages, helmets, or fire marshals, since racing is perfectly safe as long as drivers don't make mistakes right? There are countless examples of sausage curbs launching cars, let's not be naive about how dangerous they can be. Drivers make mistakes, especially in poor conditions and during overtakes, those mistakes shouldn't be lethal or put spectators at risk.
The only reason sausage curbs were ever added is because drivers categorically cheat and drive off track. And since the FIA has no spine and doesn't dare penalize drivers, they get away with it. Sausage curbs can be dangerous in some situations, but I am not against them. If racing drivers would act as adults they wouldn't exist in the first place.
@@astralfields sausage kerbs has been also problematic since 2015.
As I recall, a lot of the carpet & paved runoff area (as an extension of the kerb) was put in to replace gravel and grass because the gravel traps in particular would take too many cars out of the race. Being less punishing and having more cars stay in the race to the end despite driver errors was a design objective.
Gravel has its own issues with causing rolls, and cars sometimes skipping over the top.
Good point. There is also the debris caused by gravel which can get dragged onto the track.
no that happens as the tracks arent solely used for f1, alot of tracks are used for moto gp and other series where gravel and kerbs are really bad
Barichello was so hardcore he was fist pumping during that crash
Actually he died during that crash
@@hafidzalfarizi4723 No he did not
@@hafidzalfarizi4723 actually he didn't 💀
6:36 Good lord that's some kinetic force
Sausage curbs should no exist. The FIA says they always push for safety yet there introduction has caused nothing but damage and injuries and nothing has been done to get rid of them
Really nice to see parts of the footage I've shot (and myself) being featured in the video!
Yes, when I saw that 360 of an F1 car, I was blown away! So glad to have you conviniently here for me to find more videos. Thanks!
@@groundedgaming Awesome to hear that! I will try to make more next year so stay tuned!
Gotta love Nascar. "rubbin's racin" "If it's grey it's okay" So simple, so effective.
2:03 "[sausage kerbs] have gained a reputation for being too dangerous and launching kerbs into the sky" Now THAT I'd like to see!
i love riding on the kerbs ..especially in spa,austria,monza n suzuka the kerbs in these tracks really provide a sense of grip and also i love the sound that they make
Kerbs keep the track from breaking down at the edges. Without kerbs the tracks would be much harder to maintain.
Barrichello's accident should have been looked at waaaay more carefully, it was at the same weekend that we lost Senna and Ratzenberger
Also had a mechanic taken out by a tire flying off a Minardi.
I am pretty new to this channel, I enjoy the information! Amazing to watch the evolution of everything I ever wanted to know about in F1 to curbs! Thank you!
I remember the Alex Peroni "sausage kerb launch" incident very clearly especially after following Alex 's progress in F3 as a fellow Tasmanian. The relatively new halo concept almost certainly saved his life, or at worst a broken neck when the car flipped and landed on the external barrier. Alex needed significant time off to recover. I actually bumped into him not long after in an Attic of a bar and had a good chat with the young man. He was still wearing a back brace but hidden under his clothes which he gladly showed off. Even though I had never met him before he was very generous with his time. Albeit I knew his Dad Piero, as he was my manager in an office job for a couple of years when Alex was very young and had only just started karting.
It's crazy to me that cutting corners in some racing sports is something they are trying to stop, while in others it doesn't matter nearly as much
i think its more about the cars. for example imagine if drivers could cut turn 19 at cota in F1. they would dip wheels into the grass and spin or crash. which would be a safety hazard. not to mention it might harm the racing.
In WRC cutting every corner possible is the goal. They only soft restrict it in the "show off sections" where the driver has to take odd lines to force fancy drifts. The rest of the time the limitation is rivers, huge rocks, and deep holes as the natural kerb.
@@Kraken9911 At least for Colin McRae it was a goal. 😄 How much drivers cut in WRC depends on how much they are willing to take risks. Rallies last an entire weekend so you have to know when to push and when not to.
@@vaenii5056even without cutting, modern rally cars are astoundingly quick. People talk up Group B but modern drivers are going just as fast with way less power. It helps when your torque curve looks like a rectangle, but still.
Those sausage kerbs are nuts. I refer to them as launching pads in what they can do if you hit them wrong. I am a fan of the kitty litter traps because its quite obvious when you violate track limits however, they are a bit unfair if you are nudged into them by other drivers but then again, any driver nudging you over (like Lance) could send you equally airborne or ruin your race anyway.
Thank you for all the info! I've loved watching motorsports for a few years but everytime I watch one of your videos I learn so much and realize how much I don't know! (But want to learn)
Thanks for the video! You pick your subjects very well my friend, that was extremely interesting!
Incidentally, Barrichello's crash was also caused by hitting a very high curb that sent his car flying. FIA started to mandate a lower height limit for curbs the next year. Also, it's not F1 but you should have included pics from Champ Cars riding the chicane curbs at Surfers Paradise in the 90s, it was impressive.
Even better is the V8 Supercars driving over the same curbs.
Sure I’ve heard the reason why the Silverstone curbs are black and white (rather than red and white) is to save on the cost of maintaining them - they only really need to paint the white. If that is true, that is genius 😂
sounds British lol
I'm not sure about that. Previously in the 90s and 00s Silverstone used plain beige curbs in many corners (Hungaroring did too), which I'm sure is even cheaper.
Thank you for that unexpectedly fascinating history. :) And Merry Christmas!
Wow, I really thought they were kinda like "rumble strips" on commuter roads. I thought it was to alert the driver of the edges, or that thy have hit the edge of the track/corner. I learned so much today!!!
I never really thought about how curbs would feel to the driver until I got on track irl and I actually was surprised how different curbs feel and sound based on what car you are driving.
Tahnks for thhis always wondered about the ins and outs of these types of racing carrbs!
Sausage curbs are there to make the cars flip over and kill the driver
Kerbs only exist because grass doesn't hold up well under stress. At the the start its quite slippery and if you put a tire onto the grass on the exit of a corner, you'll exit the circuit and hit the wall. However, as the grass wears away leaving dirt, this becomes less of an issue and the corners' radius expands. At Monaco, the track ends where the walls begin leaving no safety margin. If, however, you penalize drivers five seconds for every kerb they use, they'll actually stay on the track.
Yeah. I never would have thought of thought that the kerbs are red and white because of Marlboro. I just thought it was to help the kerbs more visible.
Very interesting vid! Love your content!
6:36 HOLY CRAP!!! I've gone in to turns too hot before but god damn
what was that? where when? looks like macau. edit: kzhead.info/sun/rbR9l7BxoIyVZ6s/bejne.html
All kerbs have a purpose. They just need to be respected. On certain tracks a sausage kerb on the exit of certain corners have proven to stop cars from over running the track but also giving them an advantage as they can really keep a massive amount of rubber, so rubber on rubber just gives more grip
Hearing an F1 car exiting a corner riding over the kerb of the wall of champion in montreal is just insane. I would've never fought that the some of the kerb would be that exciting. I'm not joking
Respect for doing this whilst ill.
Merry Christmas and cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.
Nascar at Indy road course (and Charlotte roval) used the big sausage ! Sent multiple cars into flips and tire barriers
Ty I learn so much watching you
Wow, Those are some beautiful cars at 3:00! .. I think that’s my favorite of the older generation of cars.
I am still amazed, I became an f1 fan since 1994 when I was about 7 or 8 years old with the news of the death of Senna, have seen almost all seasons since, however, I am now and have never been interested in smoking, even though f1's sponsors have done almost everything to do so
Great video idea, Thanks!
thanks for the video
Happy Holidays 🎄 Philip Coyne.
Curbs (like carpet) also prevent drivers from dragging dirt and gravel onto the track, which can be really dangerous.
I always thought that was its original purpose.
Congrats on the 1 million👍
6:36 I was there when that girl flew into the camera platform in Macau.
So close to 1 million 🙈
You fucking done it my boy😂
Who would’ve thought u would then drive an f1 car
Love a good kerb tbh
My dad always says ''asphalt is asphalt'' meaning it's meant to be driven on so you should make full use of the use road not all lines make sense in every situation, sometimes it's easier to just use the entire road.
2:05 curbs launching curbs into the sky
Just replace the curbs with a light* curtain that detects if a driver crosses it. If you cross it, you lose 5 seconds lap time and get have to dinner with Raikokken but you just called off his pit stop a few seconds late.
Carpet swap for sand/ gravel trap changes a misstep, intentional or accidental, from a party fail to a yellow flag to bring out sweepers
In a world with advanced telemetry, lasers, and more camera angles than we can utilize, surely the age of danger-inducing curbs should be over. Just police it electronically. If the penalty is sufficiently harsh, the drivers will quit cutting them. Simple as. 🤷♂️
Correct... but majority would still like to keep old school kerbs, as they are integrated parts of the actual track. Some of the corners however has no kerbs at all, while some of them has 100% of in and out.
Yet when stewards issue warnings and penalties for track limits violations the viewers complain. There is no perfect solution because any run-off that isn't tarmac (including and especially gravel) ultimately represents a safety compromise for the benefit of "the show".
You still need to be able to physically see it to avoid it as well as keep the car from causing damage to the track
Great video, thank you
6:36 Dude that was terrifyingly horrible 💀
Sophia Floersch at the F3 Grand Prix in Macau. She is still out there driving, like a savage!
Us motorcycle road racers use curbs for jumps.....At IRP i used to jump one whole corner....lol
also they guide less experienced drivers to ideal racing line and serve as a visual guideline for ideal braking point
Great content really interesting information on curbs, but music is too way aggressive.
Great Video , I am suffering a lot with out any motorsports .
Can also think of another type, the high rounded Kerbs like they have at the Nurburgring.
6:37 My God!!! Where did this happen?
Question: why do we have curbs? Answer: no go or pogo
Wheel bearings love kerbs for weekend HPDE
The problem with sausage kerbs are they just slightly lift your car into the air and just don’t allow you to turn
Merry Christmas guys and gals
Surprised you didn’t mention the Nurburing in this one. Still an interesting video.
Mention what about the Nurburgring?
My guess is to reduce speed and reduce incidents (apart from sausage kerbs, which are designed to kill). 5:31 Barrichello punches the air as he flies to victory.
Carpets are for less track maintenance and safety as a number of laps with people going over removing material, leading to an item getting stuck on the other side
Great insight here . But we all know that drivers always try and take the piss with track limits, as you said just gravel all the outside of flat kerbs to minimise crashing but finish a drivers race if exceeding the kerbs .
Tracks used for MotoGP can't really have gravel there, unfortunately. It'd need to be something easily applied and replaced.
In GTA 5, people deliberately drive over curbs and other bumps to gain a speed boost. For some reason, compressing a car’s suspension makes it go faster… your guess is as good as mine lol
i really dont mind sausage kerbs being in slow corners and chicanes. But it is mental to have them in places where cars can go reeeeally quick and hit them bad
Should've mentioned the sausage kerb at Monza T1 haha
Merry Christmas all
Can you make a video on the crash between Max and Hamilton in Braizl.
Thank you for this informational piece. Question: Don’t drivers lose traction on the kerbs, or because it’s on the inside wheels they don’t?
You can but it's a calculated risk. Sometimes it gives you a better racing line through a section and helps you carry more speed off the exit, so the loss of grip is negated. As long as you don't overdo it.
AKA "klang dots." Klang dots should be standardized for every road track of every kind around the world. They should be replaceable, hard rubber, flattened teardrops with the point towards the track surface. The shape should be such that the width and height of the dot increases as the distance away from the track surface. The center-to-center distance, height, and width of the dots can be varied depending on the class of vehicles running the course. Klang dots are there to keep cars on the track. They can be sized and spaced to provide anything from a gentle reminder to a stern warning and up to vehicle damage. The one constant is that they are there to *KEEP CARS ON THE TRACK.* You don't want your $2M race car getting turned into confetti? *KEEP THE CAR ON THE TRACK.*
I like the idea of gravel. But I think the excess gravel that would get on the track would effect others race
This video further increased my knowledge and interest in the sport. It certainly didn't curb my enthusiasm.
Bah dum tsh!
2:17 Those were the days.
5:54 Bro was celebrating his crash
Just keep thinking about the image of Barrichello doing a fistbump while crashing...
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 😎 All my best to you Sir, Keep up the great work!
6:35 2018 F3 Macau GP Horror Sophia Floersch crash
While Alex Peroni walked away from the Monza crash, he also fractured his back.
Legends say anything in the world that is painted red and white in sometime was a sponsorship of Marlboro
6:49 he wasn't unhurt he had fractured a vertebra. He only was able to walk due to adrenaline.
Put city kerbs on every corner to do more damage and punish the driver for corner cutting
They are a suggestion as to where the drivers might choose to drive.
When you know the answer but you still watch it
I think the fact that the curbs protect the asphalt surface of the circuit is a little underplayed here. You mentioned they are there to police track limits, and that track owners didnt like cars driving off the pavement. Hooking wheels through grass as they go on and off the pavement puts a lot of stress on the edges of that pavement and will cause it to crumble apart in relatively short order. The curbs on permanent circuits are to prevent damage to the pavement of the circuits so they dont have to re-pave sections of the circuit all the time. Corner cutting only bothered track owners due to the financial costs.
Enforcing track limits is not just for preventing an unfair or undesired advantage. When cars repeatedly drop wheels off the paved surface, ruts start to develop, bringing grass, dirt, and gravel onto the track. And eventually the ruts get deep enough, they too can break and or launch cars
Those curbs are 3:00 are so evil they make sausage curbs look gentle by comparison
Protip: if your car doesn't have double wishbones, then stay the hell off the curbs! I have watched cars at track days break their suspension on the curbing at high speed, and the following crash (not an accident!) is always a pretty nasty one. The curbs are what you use when you are a professional racing driver, DRIVING SOMEONE ELSE'S CAR. Or on a simulator where destroying 13 billion dollars worth of GT3 RSRs at the 'ring is consequence free! :)
you know those dog collars that shock. lay line on the curbs so when a car goes past they get shocked.
I remember watching races in the 90s, even one of Schumacher's podiums, but I'll be damned if I remembered Marlboro was responsible for the red and white.
Barrichello's often forgotten crash that happened a day before Senna's death
a combination of aggressive paint like in france and replacing sausage kerbs with gravel would be best. gravel is great safety, and is a very yes/no in terms of time gained.