Max Verstappen said it became harder to avoid a track limits penalty at the end of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix as he came under pressure from Lando Norris.
The Red Bull driver went beyond the limits of the track three times in the first 20 laps at Imola yesterday. He spent the remaining 43 laps under the threat of a five-second time penalty if he went over the line one more time.As Norris closed within five seconds of the leader with 13 laps to go, Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase warned him he could not afford another track limits strike. “The main thing to focus on now Max is as the gap is less than five seconds we really can’t afford any track limits [violations] so focus on that,” Lambiase urged.
“They updated me, of course, with the track limits, to just be a bit more careful from that point onwards,” said Verstappen after the race.
Verstappen’s sudden accumulation of three track limits strikes may have caught Red Bull by surprise. All three were recorded within just eight minutes.
The first was announced shortly after he went wide at Rivazza 2 (turn 18) on lap 15. The second followed five laps later in reaction to him going off at the exit of Villeneuve (turn six). However three minutes later he received another track limits strike for an infringement which happened much earlier, on lap 11, at Rivazza 1 (pictured).
“The problem was in the beginning I was understeering a lot on the medium [tyre compound] and that was pushing me a bit off sometimes if I missed the apex,” Verstappen explained.
He was able to take it easier at first after switching to the hard tyre, as Norris initially fell over seven seconds behind him, but soon began to close the gap again.
“On the hard tyres [I was] just leaving a bit more margin,” said Verstappen. “Of course, the last few laps when Lando was catching me it was a bit harder because I had to naturally really use the track as much as I could.
“But we stayed within the lines, but definitely, it does require then a bit more focus, of course. Every exit, you have to be really sure what you’re doing.”
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Osnola
20th May 2024, 15:34
Its messy to collect tracklimits from earlier incidents. They should always be in the right order. If not you can collect three strikes without any warning and that should never happen.
MacLeod (@macleod)
21st May 2024, 7:48
And they were on three different points also with the late response … that isn’t correct but the gravel slowed him either so why a tracklimit?
baasbas
20th May 2024, 15:38
This all screams they need to do something about this. With the current situation they choose to police it but the execution makes it look extremely bad, amateurish
Tristan
21st May 2024, 0:05
About what? I’m not seeing any issue here at all.
MacLeod (@macleod)
21st May 2024, 7:49
The track limits warning were giving very late that could be instant.
An Sionnach
20th May 2024, 16:15
So, he goes off into the gravel a little and collects a track limits strike. Is this the worst of both worlds?!?
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
20th May 2024, 16:16
Why they put gravel there and still impose track limits is beyond me…
An Sionnach
20th May 2024, 16:28
I suppose the rules remain the same regardless of the track design. They need to be updated so they can stop counting track limits on corners with slowing surfaces beyond the boundary.
notagrumpyfan
20th May 2024, 18:12
I wouldn’t control track limits in those areas where there is a natural deterrent.
I don’t recall Grosjean getting a track limit warning in Bahrain 2020.
SteveP
20th May 2024, 21:30
Pretty severe penalty though. Not a habit to make.
Tristan
21st May 2024, 0:01
Of course there are differences in standards comparing the short-lived Masi-era to now
SteveP
20th May 2024, 17:51
The gravel is supposed to slow them down before they hit the barrier, the white lines for track limits are supposed to define the limit of the bit they are supposed to drive on ??
I have an opinion
21st May 2024, 3:51
Looked to me like Lando exceeded track limits many times in his pursuit without consequence.
MacLeod (@macleod)
21st May 2024, 7:51
I think him did it on turn they didn’t monitored.
Jonathan Parkin
21st May 2024, 5:43
I am happy there is grass and gravel back at Imola – Variante Alta the exception – but the kerbs are still too wide and this is the reason for the track limits warnings. I know WEC drive here as well but we need to cut back the kerb so it isn’t wider than half the width of the car.
But even then we need to let the drivers race. Michael Schumacher would have got a few track limits strikes during the European GP in 1998 when he was pursuing Mika Hakkinen for example as he did go wide a bit.
S
21st May 2024, 10:48
It doesn’t matter how wide the kerbs are.
The drivers simply shouldn’t be putting all four wheels outside of any lines – the kerbs are not part of the track.
Every driver in F1 in previous decades could have got track limits warnings and penalties if they had enforced the rules then, instead of completely ignoring them as they chose to. If they had, they all would have driven accordingly.
The drivers can race – on the track. Not outside of it.
Jordan
21st May 2024, 19:23
So wait, other go past TL and get a 5 or 10 sec penalty. Max does it a bunch and nothing
SteveP
22nd May 2024, 19:21
Of course. Max is “special”