The Track Limits Drama In Austria Explained
One of the big talking points of the 2023 Austrian GP was the track limits and how a good chunk of the field got multiple penalties and track times deleted. Many of the drivers didn’t take too kindly to any of it with some wanting changes to be made to corners 9 and 10 at the Red Bull Ring.
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I'm your host Dillon Shelley and first up on Formula World:
The Track Limits Drama In Austria Explained
Austria is one of those tracks where a lot of time can be gained by taking a wide line through corners 9 and 10
The FIA had previously made it clear that any time a driver goes wide of the white line with all four wheels, it would be adjudged a track limit violation
While this rule is applicable at every track F1 goes to, the Red Bull Ring proved to be a real bane for many of the drivers
It started on Friday when multiple drivers had their lap times deleted during Friday’s qualifying, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez ending up as the big name failing to make it out of Q2 as a result
Checo had the following to say
“The first two laps that I had deleted for track limits the rules were clear and I accept those decisions from the stewards”
“On my final run in Q2 I tried to push as best as I could within those limits and was on a good lap but was in traffic and that was trickier to keep clean. It is what it is”
During the main race on Sunday, Lewis Hamilton was the first driver to get a penalty early on in the race and he felt that it wasn’t racing
“I think they probably need to find a new solution for this track”
”It’s strange to be driving and almost have to comment on the car ahead as that’s what the team ask you to do”
“That’s not racing, right”
Several drivers blamed the wind or the dirty air from the car ahead
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was one of them
“In the race you have the dirty air of the car in front which washes you out of the corner even more, which makes it even more tricky to stay”
“You’re no longer fully in control, how the car reacts to the dirty air of the car in front”
Williams driver Alex Albon was another
“The wind is moving 360 degrees, it was moving 180 degrees around the racetrack, you’re getting dirty air, gusty air, literally”
“I’m not joking you, a little gust and that’s it, you’re track limits straightaway”
Many feel that all the drivers had to do was take those corners a little slower
McLaren’s Lando Norris highlighted the problem with that
“If you struggle then you’ve just got to slow down, but you never want to do that when you’re a driver. It’s complicated, it’s just not as easy as what it looks like on the outside I can assure everyone of that”
Another problem faced by teams and drivers was that they were often informed about their first track limit violation 15 or more laps after the fact
This is why the results changed again, hours, after the race
Albon revealed how this made it very difficult for the drivers to take corrective measures
“I basically got told, my first strike was Lap 20, I thought, ‘That’s pretty good for me!’. So that was it, I got Lap 20, I thought Lap 21 play it safe, got another strike, Lap 22, play it really safe, got another strike, Lap 23, penalty”
“By that point I wasn’t even using the exit kerbs, and they were like, ‘Oh, sorry, that was from 15 laps ago’. It's like, well you can’t react at that point, you can’t bring it in and it’s all gone”
The FIA has since acknowledged that the race in Austria created an unprecedented issue and they issued the following statement
“Regarding the track limits infringements at the 2023 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix,”
“We note that due to the specifics of the circuit layout and the propensity of many drivers to repeatedly drive outside of the boundaries of the track,”
“An unprecedented situation arose which resulted in all potential infringements not being able to be reviewed during the race”
“During the Grand Prix, Race Control was tasked with reviewing well over 1,200 instances where a car was reported as potentially leaving the track”
The statement concluded by highlighting what could be done for the future
“In order to address the issue for future events we will renew our recommendation to the circuit to add a gravel trap at the exit of Turns 9 and 10”
“We note that while this is not a straightforward solution in relation to other series that race here, it has proved to be very effective at other corners and circuits with similar issues”
Do you think the drivers could have done more to stay within the white lines in Austria or is a gravel trap needed to keep them in check?