FIA and Austin discuss Austria-style track limits solution to curb controversies

The FIA and the Austin race promoter are in discussions over installing adjustable gravel traps for Formula 1’s 2025 United States Grand Prix, Autosport understands.

This approach is aimed at solving the track limits controversy involving Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen and McLaren driver Lando Norris that marred the end of last Sunday’s race at the Circuit of the Americas.

The Austin track had already made considerable effort to avoid further F1 track limits sagas during its recent major resurfacing work, following the 2023 race where Haas sought a right of review over track limits abuse it felt should have been sanctioned.

Turns 6, 13, 14 and 15 at Austin were narrowed, along with cameras installed to monitor track limits at various places, while Turn 11’s runoff was covered in a resin-bound ‘fake’ gravel filled insert.

But the track did not install the small gravel trap solution the FIA has worked to develop for 2024 that was first installed at Austria’s Red Bull Ring and called the “perfect set-up” by F1 race director, Niels Wittich

This approach involves narrowing kerbs and painting white lines to ensure cars cannot be run on these fully without going off-track, but critically a small gravel trap is installed behind a kerb to act as deterrent to drivers really pushing track limits – with the whole aspect designed to be easy for tracks to revise when it comes to holding motorbike events that cannot have gravel for safety reasons.

Autosport understands that as part of its rollout of the removable gravel trap feature, all F1 tracks were asked to consider installing it at certain contentious corners.

The idea was therefore put to the Austin race organiser ahead of the 2024 event that ended with Norris dropping off the podium for overtaking Verstappen outside track limits at Turn 12 at the end of the track’s long main straight – where the Red Bull was also running off the road.

The pair had also clashed in a similar incident – albeit with Verstappen as the attacker the whole way through the move – at the first corner of the Austin race and where they also both went off the road.

There was much discussion in the media over the idea of installing the adjustable gravel traps used at the Red Bull Ring as a solution for Turn 1 and 12 at Austin in the immediate aftermath of last weekend’s race.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing…