Gravel traps plus thinner kerbs spell an end to F1’s tedious track limits rows · RaceFans

The final pair of corners at the Red Bull Ring have received a spate of changes to help try and resolve track limits problems.

The Austrian Grand Prix has been the scene of the most of track limits infringements of any event on the calendar.

In 2022, 43 lap times were deleted by the stewards during the grand prix with four drivers receiving time penalties during the race for exceeding the limits of the track at least four times over the 71-lap race – mainly at the two final corners of turns nine and ten. However, track limits proved even more of a problem last year as over a hundred lap times were deleted and 14 separate penalties were imposed between nine drivers after a lengthy post-race investigation.

After the stewards of last year’s event strongly recommended that the sport find a solution to the track limits problems at the circuit, the FIA said that it would push the circuit’s owners to add gravel back to the outside of the corners.

“In order to address the issue for future events we will renew our recommendation to the circuit to add a gravel trap at the exit of turns nine and 10,” an FIA spokesman said after last year’s event. “We note that while this is not a straightforward solution in relation to other series that race here [Moto GP], it has proved to be very effective at other corners and circuits with similar issues.”

Teams arrived at the track on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s race to discover that as well as introducing a strip of gravel to the exit kerbs, the track has been widened with the original white line limit used last year painted over, with a new white line beginning from where the previous one ended, effectively widening the circuit by several centimetres.

FIA F1 race director Niels Wittich noted that the distance between the white line and the gravel at the final two corners was now just 1.5 metres. As F1 cars are two metres wide, any car that runs entirely beyond the white line at the exit of either turn will inevitably run into the gravel trap and is almost certain to lose time.

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A light blue line has also been added to the outside of the new white line marking the end of the track, designed to offer race control clear visual evidence for when cars run outside of them.

“Obviously track limits control in Austria was problematic last year, as many…