Kurt Verlin
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F1 Teams Demand Clarity on Track Limit Rules

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Marina Bay Circuit curb
Track limits are somehow no issue when enforced by concrete
Photo: colina†ion via CC

Formula 1’s top team principals have called on the sport to clarity its track limit rules after they became an issue at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

During the race, Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton for the lead, but was instructed to hand the place back because he had gone over the track limits during the pass and thus gained a “lasting advantage.”


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Though Verstappen and Red Bull Racing did not argue the instruction and immediately complied, it led to controversy over the rule’s inconsistent application.

At the same corner where Verstappen had made his move on Hamilton, the latter had been taking a wide, off-track racing line for more than half of the race, thus also gaining a lasting advantage. Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner says the wider line could be worth as much as 0.2 seconds per lap.

But Hamilton had been taking that line because in the driver briefing before the race, the FIA had not said it would be monitoring time-benefiting off-tracks at that corner — even though exceeding the track limits at the same corner in qualifying had not been permitted.

To make matters more complicated, Hamilton’s off-track excursions seemed to go unnoticed by the marshals until Verstappen pointed it out on the radio after much of the race had already elapsed. Hamilton was then warned he could face a penalty if he kept doing it and promptly stopped, but questioned why the rule was changed mid-race.


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If you’re starting to feel confused, you’re clearly not alone. Both Horner and rival team boss Toto Wolff argued there should be no room for interpretation in how the rules are applied.

“We do need to just have a consistent situation,” Horner said. “You can’t say: ‘It’s OK to use it in the race, but you can’t overtake out there.’ It should be black or white, it should not be shades of grey.”

“We need to be consistent in which messages are being given,” Wolff added. “They need to be clear, they need to be sacred, and not a Shakespeare novel that leaves interpretation.”

From a bystander’s perspective, it seems fairly simple. Every track has white lines denoting its limits. If drivers put all four wheels beyond those limits during a race, they should get a warning. After a certain number of warnings, they get a penalty.

At Monaco and Singapore, where the limits are enforced by race-ending barriers, the drivers are perfectly capable of staying on the track. It would not be hard for them to respect limits at tracks with wide run-off areas as long as the race director made it clear there would be consequences.

But as long as the rules are inconsistent, you can expect teams and drivers to do their utmost to exploit the grey areas in the pursuit of performance, leading to more controversies such as this one. We even wrote about it over two years ago.