Even in the opening phase, the 2021 World Cup was studded with controversy. In the inaugural race in Bahrain, in fact, Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton with a handful of laps to go, an overtaking that would have probably earned him the victory. In completing the operation, however, the Dutchman exceeded the limits of the track and had to immediately surrender the position to his rival, although the Mercedes drivers had repeatedly completed the same trajectory (but not overtaking) during the race. “To the pilots it was allowed to go out with all four wheels at that point of the track (curve-4, ed) but, if an obvious advantage had materialized in a wheel-to-wheel battle, then the penalty would be triggered“, Former race director Michael Masi would later justify himself.
A year later, the FIA may have started a process of simplification on the rules of track limits. If a good day starts in the morning, the race direction entrusted to Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas will be very brief in this sense and will avoid paragraphs, delays and exceptions. For the Bahrain Grand Prix it will no longer be necessary to memorize the corners in which to respect the limits of the track: these will be everywhere, the white line. If no part of the car remains ‘inside’ the line (the mechanism is like the one that awards a goal or not in football), then the driver will have passed the track limits and his action will therefore end up in the stewards’ attention.
Wittich’s notes on the Sakhir event published on the FIA website refer to article 33.3 of the sporting regulations, which underlines that “for the avoidance of doubt, the white line that defines the boundaries of the track is considered part of the track, but the curbs are not“.
#Bahrain #track #limits #rules #simplified #FormulaPassionit