After the first half of the Austrian Grand Prix, a more or less general alarm sounded throughout the Spielberg pit lane. Lap after lap, a large part of the drivers on the track have accumulated “warnings” for having crossed the solid line that delimits the track outside the curve ‘9’, and after three warnings (as required by the sporting regulations) a penalty is automatically triggered of 5 seconds on the race time.
In the end, it was Pierre Gasly who paid for it, but with thirty laps to go, in addition to the AlphaTauri driver, there were several drivers who found themselves at risk of penalties.
Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT03, was punished with a 5 second penalty for not respecting the track limits
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
In Austria no new legislation has been introduced, the sensors drowned in the asphalt that signal the passage of the four wheels of a single-seater beyond the continuous white line that delimits the track, have existed for some time, but the particular configuration of Spielberg has highlighted a problem never fully resolved.
The regulation of passages on curbs, especially external ones, has been the subject of the FIA’s attention for many years, as evidenced by the creation of a “track limit working group” that deals with precisely this problem.
Over the years, various lines of thought have been confronted, between those who support the use of very aggressive curbs and those who consider them dangerous, as well as the different visions of those who are in favor of gravel and asphalt escape routes.
Mick Schumacher examines curb in Austria, with Haas F1 Chief Engineer Ayao Komatsu
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
In this scenario there is also the problem of having to find a compromise solution that can allow the circuits to host single-seater and motorcycle races without having to adapt the curbs every time, a very expensive operation that also takes a long time.
With the spread of asphalt escape routes, many ‘ramp’ curbs have been eliminated, replaced by less aggressive corrugations that have led the drivers to their habitual use, having drastically reduced the risk of damaging the car.
A conduct also amplified by the increasingly detailed information that telemetry and gps data provide, data that allow pilots engineers to evaluate the trajectories centimeter by centimeter and to identify the line that allows the greatest gain in terms of time, almost always including the steps on the curbs.
Precisely from these analyzes it emerged that the vibrations triggered by the passage on a curb are amply compensated by the higher speed that allows to maintain the passage on them. “One thing is certain – confirmed an insider – if the riders get over it, it means that they make a profit”.
Over time, the adaptation of the circuits to the safety regulations have reduced the presence of curves that are traveled at other speeds, but as seen in Austria, there are still passages in which a driver tries to bring all the speed possible into the entrance. curve using the fastest line which includes the millimeter use of the curb, at the limits of the allowed.
One of the reasons that led to the dozens of “warnings” sent to Austria is that the pilot does not have optimal visibility and does not feel the curb very much since the incidence of the latter is very low. This is because when higher curbs have been tried in the past, which warn the pilot to be at the limit of the allowed space, there have been cases where they have turned into dangerous springboards for pilots who had made a mistake.
However, there is not much room for discussion on the taxation of controls. “It is true that in certain circumstances it is not easy to accept a penalty for crossing the line by a few centimeters – commented a former F1 driver – but this is the case in many sports. Even in football, sometimes the offside is a matter of centimeters, as well as the validation or not of a goal based on the position of the ball with respect to the goal line. “
George Russell, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
“At a certain point we have to separate what can be done from what is forbidden, and that line must not be the subject of controversy by the drivers, the rules are clear. If during technical checks a car is underweight by 100 grams a weighing 5 kilos, it makes no difference, you are disqualified and nobody dares to say anything “.
There is no absolute solution, but a solution that could also be tested in a short time is being evaluated. Considering that the high curbs do not marry the needs of motorcycles, there are those who have proposed to place a curb a little less wide than the track of a single-seater, with the gravel placed immediately after it.
In this scenario a driver could actually use a large part of the surface, aware that reaching the limit (which today triggers the track-limit sensor) would end up with the outer wheels on the gravel.
There are also those who cut it short, hoping to respect the white line that should never be touched, even with the outer tires. “This happens in citizens – explained a former Formula 1 driver – there is a wall and you don’t touch it, and if you touch it you pay a price. Obviously the riders would complain immediately, but I think that after two or three race weekends everything would already be metabolized. As, on the other hand, it has always been in Formula 1 ”.
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