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Marcus Ericsson suffered a huge accident during the second practice session at Monza. In the early stages of the session, the Swede was heading into Turn 1 before his car snapped to the left, causing him to hit into the barriers and barrel roll down an escape route.
The crash appeared to be caused by a DRS failure, as the Sauber's rear wing was open as Ericsson hit the brakes. The system is supposed to automatically close once it senses pressure on the brake pedal. It is the second DRS failure in a week, as Kimi Raikkonen was forced to retire from the Belgian Grand Prix last weekend due to a similar issue.
Ericsson hit the barriers hard, however there was no major damage done to them. The 27-year-old was able to climb out of his wrecked car by himself, but was immediately taken to the medical centre. Sauber is investigating the issue, with Charles Leclerc also suffering from a DRS issue.
Ericsson is likely to take new engine parts and a gearbox following the accident, which will result in a grid penalty. After his top-ten finish at Spa, he was aiming to score points this weekend at Alfa Romeo's [Sauber's title sponsor] home Grand Prix.
WATCH: Huge crash for @Ericsson_Marcus - great to see him climb out and walk away. Testament to the safety of the Sauber
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C. Sainz jr
Grand Prix of Belgium
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Replies (5)
Login to replyjuju_hound
Posts: 180
The last time Ericsson had a similar crash with braking with DRS open, he just forgot to close it (was it Silverstone?). Was it really a failure this time or just same mistake?
Kean
Posts: 692
After Silverstone they made sure that the DRS would close as soon as you eased of the throttle. The steering wheel was pointing straight when the car veered off to the left. Highly likely it was technical failure and not a driver mistake.
f1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
Really glad he's okay. Very strange how it was able to flip over like that
Kean
Posts: 692
Watching FP2 now, Leclerc went out to test his DRS and it stayed open also. Likely the Monza spec rear wing that is faulty.
KyalamiKid
Posts: 146
I think it is the strength of the wheel tethers that made the car flip... the wheels dug in and sent the car in to a roll.
Great to see he walked away from it!