The FIA is coming down harder on track limits breaches in junior series but Formula 1 drivers say a 10-second base penalty for infringements is too harsh.
Last weekend in Bahrain, Formula 2 and Formula 3 drivers received 10-second penalties for offences such as leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage. This infraction typically resulted in five-second time penalties in previous years in those series and in F1. No similar infringements occured during last week’s grand prix.
Drivers who exceed track limits a total of five times also previously received five-second penalties. Charles Leclerc said increasing the standard penalty from five seconds to 10 “sounds quite harsh.”
“I think the main priority should be in fixing or helping us at least respecting those track limits better because at the moment the way the white lines are we don’t really see it,” said Leclerc. “I felt like five seconds was quite painful already. Ten seconds is, in my opinion, too much.”
Leclerc’s Mercedes rival George Russell agrees that the lack of visibility in modern Formula 1 cars makes being able to judge the limits of the circuit very difficult at times.
“It’s difficult to really comprehend from a television how difficult it is from within the car,” he said.
“You’re sat so low, you only see the top 15 centimetres of your tyres and the cars are running 70 millimetres from the ground or whatever they are – even less at the end of a straight – so we need a kerb that we can feel and ultimately some tracks we go to there are no track limit issues whatsoever.”
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He pointed out that the majority of track limits violations happen at a small number of circuits with particularly combinations of corners and run-off areas.
“It’s only a handful of circuits that we see a lot of track limits issues,” he said. “So we just need to find a way to solve it.”
However, Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg argued that the more severe penalty could help to reduce track limits infringements by acting as a deterrent.
“It is true that it is difficult to see, but I think we do have a feel,” he said. “Some tracks are better than others, but I think that would force us to be more careful, for sure. So why not?”
Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll said that the problem of track limits could be reduced by providing more natural deterrents on the…
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