The final pair of corners at the Red Bull Ring have received a spate of changes to help try and resolve track limits problems.
The Austrian Grand Prix has been the scene of the most of track limits infringements of any event on the calendar.In 2022, 43 lap times were deleted by the stewards during the grand prix with four drivers receiving time penalties during the race for exceeding the limits of the track at least four times over the 71-lap race – mainly at the two final corners of turns nine and ten. However, track limits proved even more of a problem last year as over a hundred lap times were deleted and 14 separate penalties were imposed between nine drivers after a lengthy post-race investigation.
After the stewards of last year’s event strongly recommended that the sport find a solution to the track limits problems at the circuit, the FIA said that it would push the circuit’s owners to add gravel back to the outside of the corners.
Teams arrived at the track on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s race to discover that as well as introducing a strip of gravel to the exit kerbs, the track has been widened with the original white line limit used last year painted over, with a new white line beginning from where the previous one ended, effectively widening the circuit by several centimetres.
FIA F1 race director Niels Wittich noted that the distance between the white line and the gravel at the final two corners was now just 1.5 metres. As F1 cars are two metres wide, any car that runs entirely beyond the white line at the exit of either turn will inevitably run into the gravel trap and is almost certain to lose time.
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A light blue line has also been added to the outside of the new white line marking the end of the track, designed to offer race control clear visual evidence for when cars run outside of them.
“There were a huge number of infringements last year and a lot of penalties after the race so clearly something needed to change. Therefore, this year we’re creating a natural deterrent with the installation of a gravel strip and we’re adding more clarity in how we delineate the limits of the track.”
Speaking in today’s FIA press conference, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc said he was encouraged by what he had seen of the new exit kerbs in the final corners.
“These two corners were quite tricky already, before the gravel trap that we have now in those corners in turns nine and ten,” Leclerc said. “But I guess that now it’s pretty clear where the track limits are and we won’t have these types of problems anymore – which is a good thing. I’ve still got to drive the track to tell you exactly what I think of it, but on paper it looks positive.”
However, Williams driver Logan Sargeant – one of the drivers penalised here last season – was unconvinced that this new measure will prove the ‘perfect’ solution to the problem Wittich envisaged.
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“I don’t think it will completely solve it, to be honest,” said Sargeant. “I mean, I managed to do track limits at Imola turn nine [Rivazza], which is almost impossible. So if I can do it there, I think it’s still possible to do here.
The exits of turns one, three and six have also been adjusted so that the white lines are 1.8 metres away from the gravel off track, meaning that cars that run completely beyond the white line will naturally lose time. Wittich says that the governing body are already looking at introducing this new solution to additional circuits with track limits concerns, such as Circuit of the Americas which hosts the United States Grand Prix.
“There are racetracks that are more affected than others by track limits and there are some that need no alteration,” Wittich explained. “At Zandvoort, for example, it’s all natural track limits.
“But there are other circuits, such as Austin, where you have some track limit areas where we would like to implement this or something similar, creating a natural deterrent. For example, In Austin, at the exit of turn 19 there’s a very wide run-off and at the exit of turn 12 there’s a very wide asphalt run-off. We look at every circuit to see where improvements can be made. It’s a constant process.”
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New gravel strip at exits of turns nine and ten
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2024 Austrian Grand Prix
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Jack
27th June 2024, 15:03
Hopefully the new setup with track limits this weekend is a success and other tracks then copy it.
We keep getting told these are the 20 best drivers in the world, we’ll prove it and stay on track
BasCB (@bascb)
27th June 2024, 16:11
I’d say that is a hope just about anyone who likes F1 can wholeheartedly share Jack!
John Potley
27th June 2024, 16:41
Hmm, the one driver that always has TL issues is Max, Max is RB. THis track is the RB ring. F1 loves Max so it’s not surpising they are doing this. After watching f1 for decades and now the drive to survive series, I can see the fingerprints of F1 on their moneymaker.
baasbas
28th June 2024, 8:57
@John Potley
Amuse us some more and look up the track limit infringements from last year. Then please point at the doll where you were touched?
MichaelN
27th June 2024, 16:19
It’s an interesting approach to sort of mix and match characteristics of different types of run-off, let’s hope it works out as intended.
baasbas
28th June 2024, 9:11
@MichaelN
I’m skeptical.. To me it now seems like they didn’t want to commit to a choice and we end up with an unsatisfying mix. So now it is the blue line that is the edge of the track? That’s probably not in the rule book…
I feel it would be best to make the gravel strip wider and then remove the silly blue line. And skip policing track limits altogether.
M2X
27th June 2024, 16:30
Spoken like a true bureaucratic Bobo that never took part in any competitive sport.
There is no choice, when the fastest you can around the track is to keep a decimal of a millimeter of tyre on the white line, then that is the line to drive.
Not driving that line automatically means you are potentially slower, and therefore less competitive.
MichaelN
27th June 2024, 17:04
It definitely is a choice, as multiple drivers have indicated that they’ll – to use Ricciardo’s words – “abuse it a bit”.
It’s ultimately about the risk/reward. So while not entirely in accordance with the rules, the warnings-into-penalty system is fair enough. Drivers will push to the limit, and sometimes go over. That’s fine. But when it becomes a constant feature of their laps then they need to slow down a bit, which is where the penalty comes in.
Hopefully this new solution will work and a lot of the penalty-talk can be consigned to the past.
M2X
27th June 2024, 18:25
If you want to call being uncompetitive in a sport a choice, sure. I don’t consider it a choice, its their job to be as fast as they possibly can be.
The racing line is the potentially fastest line, when that means trying to go as far off track as the rules allow then thats the racing line. If you want to be competitive you must drive that line.
The reason why off tracks are a problem is because the FIA is not efficient in policing it, making it unclear when a session is finished who is the fastest and who classified on what place. Therefore it can take up several hours, and if protests are included, even days before the results are finalized.
It’s a bureaucratic problem, that effects the experience of the fans and therefore the quality of the F1 product, not a racer’s problem.
baasbas
28th June 2024, 9:04
@M2XCancel
Fully agreed. That’s why I can’t understand the “but these are the supposedly 20 best drivers” comments.
A system was designed to be gamed. The players need to game it to be competitive. Compound this with inadequate policing and the end result is a really bad viewing experience.
You can’t cheer for a top time in Q anymore since the chance it will get dropped in a minute or 5 is high. And finishing a race days after the checkered flag is also pretty lame.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
27th June 2024, 16:48
I’m glad they are at least trying something. Ever since tarmac runs off were implemented most of the time they kept changing the ruling and the penalties without actually making a substancial change. This looks effective and could be something applicable everywhere. We’ll see if it works. But if it doesnt, at least they seem to be going in the right direction.
Imre (@f1mre)
27th June 2024, 17:07
They’ve started to become consistent since 2022 with the new Race directors. The white lines mark the end of the track since then and they keep to that.
Hopefully physical obstacles ruining laps will end the need for track limits policing.
Imre (@f1mre)
27th June 2024, 17:05
Finally. Those flat, 150 cm wide red-white kerbs all over the world are so pointless.
Asd
27th June 2024, 17:35
FIA – can’t figure out what F1 should be like, can’t even figure out what F1 tracks should be like.
But every now and again the heap of nonsense they have been piling up collapses on their heads and they make a sensible decision.
Senna versus Schumacher
27th June 2024, 19:03
Although I laud this decision, it looks like it’s not the kerbs that are thinner, but rather the track that was widened by painting the white line halfway across the kerbs.