The FIA has shared details of F1 Portuguese GP track limits along with DRS zones, power unit elements, stewards and more.
As is always the case before every race weekend, the track limits reveal from the FIA Race Director’s note is very important. Last year, the Portuguese GP track saw huge number of lap cancellations in the F1 practice session, across several corners.
The track limits will be monitored this time too at Turn 1, Turn 4 and Turn 15, primarily. Any multiple abuse, will result in lap deletions, black & white flag, and even time penalty. Here’s the explanation from Michael Masi on the same:
Turn 1 – Exit –
a) A lap time achieved during any practice session or the race by leaving the track and cutting behind the red and white kerb on the exit of Turn 1, will result in that lap time being invalidated by the stewards.
Turn 4 – Exit –
a) A lap time achieved during any practice session or the race by leaving the track and cutting behind the red and white kerb on the exit of Turn 4, will result in that lap time being invalidated by the stewards.
Turn 15 – Exit –
a) A lap time achieved during any practice session or the race by leaving the track on the exit of Turn 15, will result in that lap time and the immediately following lap time being invalidated by the stewards. A driver will be judged to have left the track if no part of the car remains in contact with the track.
General – Turn 1 Exit, Turn 4 Exit and Turn 15 Exit –
a) Each time any car fails to negotiate Turn 1 Exit, Turn 4 Exit or Turn 15 Exit by using the track as described above, teams will be informed via the official messaging system.
b) On the third occasion of a driver failing to negotiate Turn 1 Exit and/or Turn 4 Exit and/or Turn 15 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.
c) 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.
d) 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.
Aside the track limits, the FIA released details of the DRS zones and the four stewards for the Portuguese GP. The former will see two zones (as below), while the latter sees Dr. Gerd Ennser, Dennis Dean, Tom Kristensen and Paulo Magalhaes.
DRS Zone 1: Detection – 35m before Turn 4; Activation – 180m after Turn 4
DRS Zone 2: Detection – 65m after start of Turn 15; Activation – 245m after Turn 15
In additional information, the FIA noted that there were no huge changes made to the track apart from maintenance work. In terms of the PU elements used by the F1 drivers ahead of the Portuguese GP, only three drivers have used more than one element.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez is on his second Energy Store and Control Electronics, which is same for AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, but for his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, he is already on his third for the above elements, while is on second for the rest.
Here’s the FIA Race Directors’ Note in full: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2021%20Portuguese%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Race%20Directors’%20Event%20Notes%20.pdf
Here’s Ross Brawn explaining F1 Sprint Qualifying decision
