Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Circuit of the Americas, 2018

Drivers will lose lap times for running wide at turn 19

2018 United States Grand Prix

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Formula 1 drivers face having their lap times deleted if they run wide at turn 19 during the upcoming qualifying session for the United States Grand Prix.

Revised rules for this weekend’s race state drivers lap times will not be counted if they leave the track at the penultimate corner.

“If a driver crosses the kerb on the exit of turn 19 during qualifying and, as a result, no part of the car remains in contact with the red and white section of the kerb, the lap time of the driver concerned will be deleted by the stewards,” the clarification states.

The corner will also be policed more strictly during the race. “A black and white flag will be shown to any driver who clears the red and white section of the kerb three times,” the drivers have been told.

“Any further occurrence will then be reported to the stewards. Each time any car clears the red and white section teams will be informed via the official messaging system.”

The stewards also confirmed Brendon Hartley will join his team mate Pierre Gasly at the back of the grid for the race. Both Toro Rosso drivers now have new power units for the weekend and have exceeded their minimum allocation.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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8 comments on “Drivers will lose lap times for running wide at turn 19”

  1. Three warnings before it is reported to the stewards, in the race? That seems too generous, I’d say one warning should suffice (or none at all).

    1. @phylyp Yes, that’s the standard approach for these type of situations.

    2. The corner will also be policed more strictly during the race. “A black and white flag will be shown to any driver who clears the red and white section of the kerb three times,” the drivers have been told.

      During the race: three faults result in a black and white flag.

      and:

      Half black, half white flag
      Accompanied by a car number, it warns of unsporting behaviour. May be followed by a black flag if the driver does not heed the warning.

      that’s what i read in it..

    3. No, 3 times = black & white flag.

  2. Twelve months ago it was determined that leaving the track briefly at T19 with all four wheels isn’t advantageous by looking at how much time it takes to drive from the light panel preceding T19 to the light panel following the corner in question/preceding T20, so what’s suddenly changed now? If it wasn’t advantageous a year ago then how is it different this time around?

    1. Interesting question, @jerejj , I didn’t realize that.

  3. Well done the race stewards.
    The corner was being abused during all of the 3 practice sessions.
    The observation that they weren’t gaining a time advantage is a red herring.

    There is an advantage by not lifting, allowing a higher entry speed into T20.

    Rule clarification states that if all 4 wheels leave the track limits anywhere, that lap time becomes invalid.

  4. Build track properly!! If you need stewards policing corners then thr track design is not fit for purpose!!

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