Home F1 FIA shares changes to Austrian GP circuit, track limits, DRS & more

FIA shares changes to Austrian GP circuit, track limits, DRS & more

27/06/2024

The FIA shares details of track limits, changes to circuit, DRS zones and more for F1 Austrian GP, as gravel addition explained.

One of the big talking point coming into the F1 Austrian GP weekend, was the addition of gravel strip at the famous Turn 9-10 sequence. After years of track limits problem, the FIA finally did the thing to add a strip which will deter drivers from exploiting the corner.

Even though the white lines remain the track limits barrier all across the Red Bull Ring circuit, the FIA Race Director has noted about the exit at Turn 10 which will be monitored and any disobedience will result in cancellation of the lap.

“In accordance with the provisions of Article 33.3, the white lines define the track edges,” the note stated. “During Sprint Qualifying, Qualifying, Sprint and the Race, each time a driver fails to negotiate with the track limits, this will result in that lap time being invalidated by the Stewards.

“Additionally, each time a driver fails to negotiate the exit of turn 10, will result in that lap time and the immediately following lap time may be invalidated by the Stewards.” In fact, the FIA Race Director Niels Wittich has explained in length of the changes made.

Here’s the excerpts from Wittich on the topic –

Changes made to Red Bull Ring –

Wittich: “Firstly, we have installed a 2.5m wide gravel strip directly behind the kerb at exit of Turn 9 and Turn 10 on the left-hand side and in Turns 1, 3, 4 and 6 we’ve moved the white line to make the distance to the gravel less than 2 metres. The kerb at Turn 4 has been narrowed by moving the white line, so the distance to the gravel is now 1.8 metres. Just to make sure, that even with, say, F3, if they put a wheel in the gravel, there’s no discussion with track limits. We have also moved the white lines in Turns 1, 3 and 6 to create the same 1.8-metre distance to the gravel.

“For example, in Turn 4, if a driver goes wide, there’s just the verge and the gravel, but he could be just off. And this is similar to Turn 12 in Spain, where the verge required from the bikes is overall 2 metres or more. So if a driver just uses the normal racing line, he might exceed the track limits. And therefore, in Spain we tripled the white line just to remove that track limit topic. But this is the latest spec created by the FIA to help circuits with hosting both bikes and cars and to keep everyone happy.”

Why such changes, what does it mean –

Wittich: “Obviously track limit control in Austria was problematic last year, as many drivers decided to go a little bit wider at the exit of Turn 9 and 10. It’s not surprising as the asphalt verge behind the kerbs allowed them to put a wheel there and as the grip level was almost the same as on the track they took the opportunity to do it. Over the years, engineers have found that in terms of lap time it’s quite a good thing to go a little bit wider there so at a certain point that brings us back in the game to say, ‘OK, there are regulations, you have to drive between the white lines’.

“There were a huge number of infringements last year and a lot of penalties after the race so clearly something needed to change. Therefore, this year we’re creating a natural deterrent with the installation of a gravel strip and we’re adding more clarity in how we delineate the limits of the track. They [drivers] will know where the limit is. That’s what they want and what they have asked for. They will get feedback, they will feel it when they get close to the gravel, and if they do dip a wheel onto the gravel it will penalise them because the car will be slower.

“It’s a natural deterrent and that has been the number one request from the drivers. It takes away any temptation to explore the limits because there is no gain anymore. If it’s just a line or just asphalt, drivers and teams will always go to the last millimetre because you can. But when you run over the gravel, it’s impossible to be faster.”

Implemented where else –

Wittich: “Shanghai is the most recent area where we did that [in Turns 10, 12 and 17] and the feedback from the drivers was very positive. The hope now is that it can be applied wherever necessary. Gravel is not expensive and it is an easy fix for most circuits. For example, I think a month or so after the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix, MotoGP will be at the Red Bull Ring. As they do not like the transition from kerb to gravel strip to a sealed surface again, they will then put some asphalt back in and just remove the gravel strip and store it. For next year, they’ll just dig out the asphalt and put the gravel back in. Or in an ideal world, they would remove the second kerb and put the gravel close to that.”

Easy to put at Red Bull Ring or not –

Wittich: “The ‘problem’ we had is that the kerb width is two metres. So the time was just too short to say, ‘OK, we’re going to take away the second kerb, put the gravel right behind’. That would be the perfect set-up, similar to what we had in China, to go for a one-metre kerb and then gravel, because a two-metre wide Formula 1 car, it’s just history with the track limits. So we have a slightly different solution, which is to artificially shorten the width of the kerb by moving the white line on the kerb, as the first part of the kerb is almost flat.

“So, what you’ll see is that white line on the kerb has moved and now there a light blue line behind just to make it easy for the marshals, for the guys at the Remote Operations Centre (ROC) and for us in Race Control to identify when a driver’s over the limit, because then you have the white line, the light blue line, black tyre – there a clear visual difference. We had the same blue lines in Barcelona, in Turns 5, 9, 12 and 13. As I said, the idea is to make it easy to identify if a tyre is off – a straight yes or no. The light blue line will help us just to differentiate between a driver being off or not.”

Any difference to track limits infringements –

Wittich: “The track limit judgement is still the same. Once there’s no part of the car on the white line, that’s it. This is just to help. In the past it was a painted white line against a white kerb. So it was not 100% to say, ‘OK, we think the tyre is off, yes, but we can’t prove it because it’s white line, white kerb’. Now, you’ll see black tyres on the light blue. Nothing is in contact with the white line anymore. Job done. The driver is out.”

Where else such solution –

Wittich: “There are racetracks that are more affected than others by track limits and there are some that need no alteration. At Zandvoort, for example, it’s all natural track limits. But there are other circuits, such as Austin, where you have some track limit areas where we would like to implement this or something similar, creating a natural deterrent. For example, In Austin, at the exit of Turn 19 there’s a very wide run-off and at the exit of 12 there’s a very wide asphalt run-off. We look at every circuit to see where improvements can be made. It’s a constant process.”

Staying on with the track changes, the FIA expanded on the exact changes made across the circuit, they are:

The verge behind the kerb in Turn 8 on RHS has been removed.
A 2.5m wide gravel strip has been installed directly behind the kerb at exit of Turn 9 and Turn 10 on LHS. Additionally, the white line has been moved to the left to reduce the distance between the white line and the gravel to 1.5m.
The white line in Turn 1 and Turn 3 on LHS has been moved to the left to reduce the distance to the yellow sausage kerb.
The white line in Turn 4 on LHS has been moved further to the left to reduce the distance between the white line and the gravel to 1.8m.
The white line in Turn 6 on RHS has been moved further to the right to reduce the distance between the white line and the gravel to 1.8m.

In terms of the three DRS zones for the sprint F1 weekend, the first one’s detection point is 160m before Turn 1, with its activation being 102m after Turn 1. The second’s detection point is 40m before Turn 3, with its activation being 100m after Turn 3.

The final zone’s detection point is 120m before Turn 10, with its activation being 106m after Turn 10. As for the four FIA stewards, the panel will be led by Felix Holter who will have the able support of Matthew Selley, Johnny Herbert and Wilhelm Singer.