The FIA has eased track limits at the exit of three corners at the Circuit of the Americas, including one where Max Verstappen incurred a penalty which cost him pole position for the grand prix.
The Red Bull driver had his final lap time deleted in Q3 on Friday for running beyond the white line at the exit of the corner. Instead of starting from pole position he will line up sixth for tomorrow’s grand prix.Verstappen was one of several drivers who said before the race weekend began that track limits were likely to lead to a spate of penalties this weekend. His lap was one of eight which were deleted in yesterday’s qualifying session.
In reaction, the FIA has widened the white line at turn 19 as well at turns nine and 12. As the white line defines the edge of the circuit, drivers are now allowed to run wider than they could yesterday without incurring a penalty.
A similar, though more drastic change was made at two corners at the Losail International Circuit last weekend. On that occasion drivers were given an extra 10 minutes of practice to acclimatise, which did not happen this weekend.
“It was discussed between the drivers and the team managers in their meeting last night and the white line has now become more of a stripe than a line,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told Sky.
He said Verstappen “was unlucky yesterday” to lose pole position the way he did. “Really, the mistake wasn’t at 19 yesterday, it was more the lock-up [at turn one] that then put Max under massive pressure for the rest of the lap.”
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Mark Zastrow (@markzastrow)
21st October 2023, 20:49
I support this. It’s still the same track for everyone, and it allows drivers to get more up onto the kerbs and potentially unsettle the car, which is more fun for us to watch.
I find it amusing though that it does seem to contradict the sporting regulations, which hold that “for the avoidance of doubt, any white lines defining the track edges are considered to be part of the track but the kerbs are not.” If you paint a kerb white, it is still a kerb, is it not?
LosD (@losd)
21st October 2023, 22:26
@markzastrow
Maybe a bit, but not really. It seems they meant that the track is defined by the white lines, not by the kerbs. So it something is both a kerb and a white line, it will be part of the track. But yeah, not the most precise wording, especially for something added “for the avoidance of doubt” .
Aquila_GD
21st October 2023, 21:05
FIA need to get this farce of a track limit issue under control. It continues to be an issue from race to race
Jere (@jerejj)
21st October 2023, 21:07
Fortunately, not on every single track, even if unnecessarily many.
MichaelN
21st October 2023, 22:45
It was under control until the teams started moaning about it again.
There is no reason to change the rules mid-game. Unless the rules are briefly applied to Red Bull, apparently.
Jere (@jerejj)
21st October 2023, 21:06
They merely added an extra white layer to make the white line seem wider artificially, but a good move anyway.
Simon
22nd October 2023, 0:23
For post @ 21:06 = 07 Stating the blimmin’ obvious
Johnny
21st October 2023, 21:37
Masi strikes again!
MichaelN
21st October 2023, 22:43
It’s all part of the current approach to F1 where every session has to have a ‘SHOCKING’ new rule, an ‘AMAZING’ result, or a ‘LATEST TWIST’.
MichaelN
21st October 2023, 22:40
In case there was any doubt as to who runs the show.
The FIA appointees for F1 are just puppets on a string.
iCarbs (@icarby)
21st October 2023, 23:38
Overall a poor decision to make such changes during a race weekend