Home F1 FIA shares COTA track limits, circuit changes, DRS, yellow flag rule &...

FIA, F1, US GP — AUSTIN, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 03: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB15 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of USA at Circuit of The Americas on November 03, 2019 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI201911040073 // Usage for editorial use only //

FIA shares COTA track limits, circuit changes, DRS, yellow flag rule & more

21/10/2021

The FIA has detailed on the track limits for the returning F1 US GP along with the circuit changes, the DRS zones, yellow flag rules and more.

With a year’s absence on the calendar, the F1 US GP returns at the Circuit of the Americas, bringing in different set of challenges which was not tested with the current car last year. The FIA Race Directors’ note for the weekend starts with details of the track limits.

Turn 9 and Turn 19 will be the two corners which will be looked upon by the FIA stewards, wherein the lap will be deleted if crossed the line, while they will be also monitored on how they exit the corner as well, which will result in black and white flag.

Turn 9 Exit –

a) A lap time achieved during any practice session or the race by leaving the track on the exit of Turn 9, will result in that lap time being invalidated by the stewards.

Turn 19 Exit –

a) A lap time achieved during any practice session or the race by leaving the track on the exit of Turn 19, will result in that lap time being invalidated by the stewards.

General – Turn 9 Exit and Turn 19 Exit –

a) A driver will be judged to have left the track if no part of the car remains in contact with the track.

b) Each time any car fails to negotiate Turn 9 Exit, or Turn 19 Exit by using the track, teams will be informed via the official messaging system.

c) On the third occasion of a driver failing to negotiate Turn 9 and/or Turn 19 Exit by using the track during the race, he will be shown a black and white flag, any further cutting will then be reported to the stewards. For the avoidance of doubt this means a total of three occasions combined not three at each corner.

d) In all cases detailed above, the driver must only re-join the track when it is safe to do so and without gaining a lasting advantage.

e) The above requirements will not automatically apply to any driver who is judged to have been forced off the track, each such case will be judged individually.

Along with the lap deletions for track limits, it will be the same case with double waved yellow flag situations from F1 US GP onward. Unlike before, any lap set under double waved yellow situation, it will be deleted straightaway. The change comes after Fernando Alonso was allowed to keep his slow lap in Turkish GP qualifying.

Moving on, the FIA note shares about the changes made to the circuit, especially the resurfacing work down since the MotoGP event, where riders complained of bumps. While it is not entirely possible to remove the bumps, but the organisers have done as much.

Changes to the circuit – 14.1 The circuit has been resurfaced in the following locations following the 2019 event:

a) The end of the pit straight, including the pit lane exit road from the end of the pit signaling wall through to the exit of Turn 1.

b) The exit of turn 9 through to the exit of Turn 10.

c) The exit of Turn 11 through to the exit of Turn 12.

d) Turn 15.5 through to Turn 19.5.

The following milling of the track surface will take place in the following location prior to the event:

a) Depression in the track between Turn 2 and Turn 3.

b) Depressions in the track in the vicinity of Turn 4, Turn 6, Turn 10 and Turn 14.

Looking at the two DRS zones, the first detection zone will be 150m after Turn 10, while the activation is 250m after Turn 11. At the same time, the second detection zone will be 65m after Turn 18, while activation zone being 80m after Turn 20.

The four FIA stewards for the US GP weekend will be led by Dr. Gerd Ennser, who will have the able support of Emanuele Pirro, Richard Norbury and Dennis Dean. Moving on to the PU elements until the Turkish GP race, most of the table shows more than three parts.

Starting with the ICE, majority are on their third element, while the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly and Nicholas Latifi are on their fifth and Valtteri Bottas is the sole to have used five of the Mercedes engines.

On TC and MGU-H side, it is similar picture with most on their third element, with the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari, Ricciardo, Gasly and Latifi on their fourth and Bottas on his fifth. With regards to MGU-K, most are on their second element still.

The likes of Alpine, Ferrari, Hamilton, Lando Norris, Sebastian Vettel and Yuki Tsunoda are on their third, with Red Bull, Bottas and Gasly on their fourth. Regarding ES, most are on their second element, with Ferrari, AlphaTauri and Verstappen on third.

At the same time Perez is on his fourth, which is same for CE. With most on their second, Ferrari, AlphaTauri, Verstappen and Bottas are on their third. Aside the FIA note, F1 also announced a marketing partnership with NBA – who celebrates is 75th Anniversary in 2021 – for the US GP weekend.

They have already revealed the 2022 car in the liveries of the NBA teams and n Thursday, the F1 teams are slated to battle it out off-the-track, in a free throw challenge at the NBA half-court built within the Circuit of the Americas paddock.

There will be NBA legends onsite at the ESPN studio to coach the drivers, who will compete against each other to secure the most free throws possible in 10 shots, with with $20,000 up for grabs for the winning team to donate to a charity of its choice.