Grass and gravel will always be the superior solution to these issues. Props to red bull ring for adding gravel instead of dangerous sausage curbs as the "natural deterrent" that was requested
Why do we still need to worry about track limits if we have gravel? Theres no way hitting the gravel will ever be faster, so we should just ignore track limits at that corner now. We should only worry about it when it gains an advantage.
"We're gonna shift the white line. The distance from the white line now is 1.5 metres and there is absolutely no way to exceed the track limits, to go for a faster lap time" So please explain Piastri's track limits penalty during qualifying then?
I think they shifted from grass/gravel was because of cars pirouetting due to grip difference and the higher nose at that time being a real safety hazard.
I heard somewhere that the asphalt run off is a safety measure introduced to allow the cars (and bikes) to brake in the run off and avoid a wall or hit it with lower energy. The cars so low that they tend to skip across gravel and don't slow down as much before contacting the wall compared to asphalt. Don't think it was to avoid gravel damage to the cars, it's more for driver/rider safety.
Correct. It was because Bernie was upset when a car was not able to finish due to an off upsetting his TV show, so he tried to artificially change this ignoring safety
and still somehow Piastri managed to exceed track limits and get his qualifying time deleted on the outside of a corner with gravel beyond the verge and without him going into the gravel. How is that possible if the verge is 1.5m wide and the car 2m wide? I guess the verge before the graveltrap is not 1.5m everywhere.
"There's absolutely no way to exceed the track limits to go faster" SO WHY ARE THERE STILL TRACK LIMITS WHERE THERE IS GRAVEL!?!?! The Piastri penalty is EMBARASSING. You should be embarrassed.
This debate makes me feel more prone to go back to grass as a natural deterrent, (initiating loss of traction) as opposed to the sausage kerbs that have proven to be both destructive and unnecessarily dangerous. Let’s vote for “banning sausage kerbs- throughout” 🙏
I do like the idea of having tangible track-edge deterrents rather than very controversial time penalties being given out afterwards. (Losing half a second in the middle of a race seems much fairer than a minimum “five second” drive-through or race end penalty….)
What if the wheels have a sensor similar that it's used in football to check the goal? That would tell instantly if there's a track limit, saving time and stewards checking this
Football stadiums only need a few hundred meters of sensors. F1 circuits would need a few kilometres of it on all 22 tracks, which would be extremely expensive.
Why complicate things with technology if you can have a simple analog solution that self-regulates? You don't need to check if cars go off track and gain and advantage if going off track is inherently disadvantageous.
Because that would do nothing to eliminate the farce we had last year, where just about every driver ended up getting track limit penalties. The whole point of this was to eliminate the penalties and let the corners themselves do the driver policing. They even got that wrong
I agree 100% if it were a concrete wall there would be almost no one running wide at that corner...then the isle of man champ would also be motogp champ. But is that a bad thing?
You should put that damn white line right next to the gravel and that's it, even if it requires passing the line behind the kerb. There's no point in putting on gravel and continuing with these shitty track limit rules.
Mr Johan mentioned grass in his comment and that may well be the safer compromise solution that the FIA seek that will work well for both the F1 cars and the Moto GP riders….
Niels Wittich was actually the same director of one of my childhoods😊😊😊Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters-DTM.😊😊😊And i said & even still said he would be so-freaki'n-GREAT😊😊😁😁😁to hope for after Eduardo Freitas, Michael Masi & especially Charlie Whiting.
@@grubbie8614 Ah that’s good news Grub, perhaps it will help inspire the FIA to remove all sausage kerbs, (they were never going to work with current ground effect cars anyway…)
FIA, several young drivers have DIED on the top of Au Rouge.....but the track barriers have been moved back. So it is just waiting for the next driver to die. FIA should demand Spa Francorchamps increase the run off after Au Rouge (Camel Straight). Sure it will take many bulldozers to move the ground and trees will have to be taken down.....but now it's just waiting for the next driver to die. 😑 . Oh, this track limits rule.....just cancel it as it does nothing for safety, just causes frustration.
Sorry, I mean the track barriers should have been moved back...they're much to close to the track and cars will bounce back to the track where other drivers cannot avoid them at 300km/h
Massive failure, these track limits rules always ruin the sport, that gravel line was a good idea that was wasted by your stupid rules, the track shouldn't just be defined by a stupid white line, you're lucky Norris and Verstappen crashed Otherwise this race would have been decided with that ridiculous +5 second penalty from Norris and that would once again be an immense shame for this sport. You could also just put this damn white line right next to the gravel and that's it, even if you have to pass the line behind the kerb.
Here's an idea! And stay with me here... How about instead of actual gravel, what if each stone were synthetic and tethered by a high strength thread to an underlayment securely affixed to the ground just outside of the curbs. The effect on traction would be similar and there wouldn't be gravel strewn about the track!
It's just going to bring the gravel on the track.. Causing punctures and possible accidents. . Nice try FIA but its a flipside situation here.. Just punishing track extending would of been the easier choice and less costly.
The gravel did seem to work well, although they still decided to go back to the old "Issue a penalty" mentality, so what was the point, at the end of the day?