Do the FIA need to police track limits?
Ah, track limits, a favourite topic of mine, not a modern circuit goes by without a good chuckle about how improved safety equates to increased liberties taken by drivers as to where one grey bit stops and the other grey bit begins.
Austin’s Circuit of the Americas was no different as the FIA decided against any policing of track limits right up until they gave Kevin Magnussen a post-race penalty for consistently gaining an advantage.
Which corner? I have no idea. Did K-Mag himself know the stewards were watching him? Probably not. But on a weekend where drivers were running off the track here, there and everywhere, what was the point in giving the Dane a slap on the wrist?
Interestingly, however, of all the modern racetracks, COTA is the most helpful in determining track limits. After all, they do line the entire five-and-a-half kilometres with a nice big red stripe on each side of the circuit.
If FIA race director Charlie Whiting can’t come to a decision on boundaries with such a clear guide at his disposal, then really what he is doing still sat in race control?
Not every circuit has the ability to paint a bold stripe on each side, but a COTA-style boundary on every corner exit is something all permanent circuits should consider introducing.
Many do by using wide kerbs or painted areas beyond them. The Hungaroring was the best example as they incorporated a boundary on the exit of their high-speed corners. Along with a sensor system, tracking each car as it passed through, it worked well but is all this fuss really necessary?
I often find myself switching sides on this debate. Earlier in the year, at the Austrian Grand Prix, I wrote about how a system of small speed bumps installed a set distance from the edge of the racetrack was probably the best solution.
It tempted the drivers to run wide and find the boundary. Get it right and there was the reward of extra lap time, get it wrong well, as Max Verstappen found, a trip back to the garage for new suspension rods and wishbones might just be needed.
The risk vs. the reward is what track limits is all about and has been throughout F1 history. If that can be reintroduced, in a time when gravel traps are increasingly disappearing, then I’m all for it.
Yet what has to be realised is the circuit is the same for everyone, and the aim of the drivers is to make that circuit as short as possible.
They know running too wide on corner exits will add an unwanted few metres to their lap and in this Pirelli era, the amount of rubber tyre marbles that gather during a session also means going off the racing line isn’t detrimental at just one corner but also the two or three that follow.
So there is an argument that going over the white lines, which is what many fans get annoyed at regarding this issue, isn’t always the most beneficial thing to do.
And then there’s the other argument against policing track limits, which is it’s just too much of a grey area to cover effectively circuit-to-circuit.
Some have big kerbs, other have small kerbs, some have grass, others have astroturf, the odd track even comes with a concrete or metal barrier if a driver pushes their luck too far.
To find a system that works at every circuit isn’t easy but you know what? When a driver is pushing the boundaries you know they are right on the limit.
And at a time, when they can’t do this and can’t do that without the risk of being told off, the last thing we should do is stop the best drivers in the world from pushing as hard as they can.