Formula 1 drivers have welcomed the FIA’s new approach to enforcing track limits by reducing the width of kerbs.
The change was used successfully at the Red Bull Ring last week. The circuit operators moved the white line which marks the edge of the track onto the kerbs, expanding the width of the circuit.
The kerbs previously measured two metres across, the same width as an F1 car, and were cut to 1.5m, which is narrower than F3 cars. Strips of gravel were added at the edge of the kerbs.
Although track limits infringements remained a bone of contention at other corners on the Red Bull Ring last weekend, the new solution at turns nine and ten appeared to be a success. The number of track limits infringements at those corners fell from 83 during the 2023 grand prix to none last Sunday.
The same approach has been used at four of Silverstone’s corners for this weekend’s British Grand Prix. The white line has been moved at the exits of Copse, Maggotts, Stowe and Vale.
Oscar Piastri was penalised for a track limits infringement at turn six in Austria, where the kerb remains two metres wide. He said drivers and the FIA have done “a good job” of finding a better solution to the problem by using narrower kerbs.
“China was a really good example, we’ve fed back to the FIA that the kerb not being wide enough to get your whole car off the track width was a really good thing for us,” he said.
He believes allowing drivers to touch the edge of gravel traps without exceeding track limits will add to the spectacle of qualifying.
“In Austria for example, even if you manage to do a pole lap with going in the gravel, I don’t think that should really be penalised. If you managed to achieve pole by making a mistake like that, where you’ve clearly lost time. I don’t feel like you should be penalised. I think that makes even better story.”
While some drivers have suggested not enforcing track limits at some corners, Piastri believes the white line should be enforced as the edge. “It’s been, a topic of discussion. I fully understand the FIA’s point of keeping consistent with the white line, which I agree with.”
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2024 British Grand Prix
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