The Monaco track surface at turn one is undergoing urgent repairs following a truck fire which badly damaged the surface.
A small lorry caught fire on Tuesday morning at Sainte Devote, famously the first corner of the Monaco track leading up to Beau Rivage.
According to sources, workmen have been making emergency repairs to the surface after the fire burnt and badly damaged the new tarmac which had been laid just a few weeks ago – crucially giving the new area time to settle and seep oil which, if not done, leaves the surface very slippy.
This new layer, which won’t set until late Wednesday, won’t have time to ‘seep’, which will most likely result in a very slippery area which the teams and the FIA will no doubt warn the drivers to steer clear of – though that will be very difficult considering the area is directly on the racing line.
With practice set to take place on Thursday, as it always has because of the Friday holiday in Monte Carlo, the workers will have even less time to prepare the area for racing.
Another issue which may crop up, as seen in Canada during the 2008 race, is that newly laid tarmac can break up very easily, especially when 24 cars will be running over it at almost 120km/h for hundreds of laps when you include practice, qualifying and a 78 lap race.
