Monaco bosses announce track changes

The Automobile Club de Monaco has announced a series of changes that have been made to improve safety ahead of the 2012 running of the Monaco Grand Prix. The changes have come at the request of FIA safety delegate Charlie Whiting following the 2011 race weekend on the streets of Monte Carlo, where Sergio Perez was injured in a heavy accident during qualifying. The main changes made come at the exit of the tunnel, where Perez suffered his accident, with a laser study having taken place to look at the road surface on the run from the tunnel down to the Noevelle chicane. That study showed a number of significant height changes in the circuit, with officials then removing a bump from the road and improving some of the banking on that section of the circuit. The wall Perez hit has also been moved back by 14.6 metres. Additional changes include revisions to the pit exit to allow cars to return to the circuit at higher speed, a new abrasive braking surface in some run-off areas and the use of new TecPro barriers at St Devote and through the Swimming Pool section.