The FIA has shared details of track limits for F1 Qatar GP along with the DRS zones, PU elements, stewards and more.
Being a brand new circuit on the F1 calendar, there is a long list of track limits as mentioned by the FIA Race Directors’ note ahead of the Qatar GP weekend. The monitoring will cover Turn 4, Turn 12, Turn 13, Turn 14 and Turn 16, with laps to be deleted along with black and white flag waved for various offences.
Turn 4 Exit –
a) A lap time achieved during any practice session or the race by leaving the track on the exit of Turn 4, will result in that lap time being invalidated by the stewards.
Turn 12 Exit –
a) A lap time achieved during any practice session or the race by leaving the track on the exit of Turn 12, will result in that lap time being invalidated by the stewards.
Turn 13 Exit –
a) A lap time achieved during any practice session or the race by leaving the track on the exit of Turn 13, will result in that lap time being invalidated by the stewards.
Turn 14 Exit –
a) A lap time achieved during any practice session or the race by leaving the track on the exit of Turn 14, will result in that lap time being invalidated by the stewards.
Turn 16 Exit –
a) A lap time achieved during any practice session or the race by leaving the track on the exit of Turn 16, will result in that lap time and the immediately following lap time being invalidated by the stewards.
General – Turn 4 Exit, Turn 12 Exit, Turn 13 Exit, Turn 14 Exit and Turn 16 Exit –
a) Each time any car fails to negotiate Turn 4 Exit, Turn 12 Exit, Turn 13 Exit, Turn 14 Exit or Turn 16 Exit by using the track, teams will be informed via the official messaging system.
b) On the third occasion of a driver failing to negotiate Turn 4 Exit and/or Turn 12 Exit and/or Turn 13 Exit and/or Turn 14 Exit and/or Turn 16 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) 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.
There is no mention of circuit changes from last time as the track is new to stage a F1 grand prix and so the information on the DRS zone is fresh as well from the FIA. There’s just one zone whose detection is 125m before Turn 16 and activation at 200m after T16.
Moving on to the four FIA stewards, the team will be led by Garry Connelly and will feature Loic Bacquelaine, Emanuele Pirro and Amro Al-Hamad. As for the PU elements, in terms of ICE, majority are on their fourth element leaving Alfa Romeo and Haas duo who are on their third, while Valtteri Bottas has six and Lewis Hamilton has five.
Looking at TC and MGU-H, majority are on their fourth leaving Hamilton, Alfa Romeo and Haas with three and Bottas with five. As for MGU-K, it is mixed bag with seven on their fourth, five on their third and remaining eight with just two used.
In terms of ES, 12 drivers are on their second with seven on their third and only Sergio Perez with four used uptill now. And finally for CE, 10 are on their second, nine on their third and only Perez with four.
Here’s the full list – includes EX: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2021%20Qatar%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20PU%20elements%20used%20per%20driver%20up%20to%20now.pdf
Here’s the FIA Race Directors’ note: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2021%20Qatar%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Race%20Directors’%20Event%20Notes%20Version%202.pdf
Here’s onboard of Qatar GP lap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlkC__45wcc
In addition to the weekend’s work, the FIA is also expected to announce the decision of the right of review option from Mercedes regarding the Turn 4 incident in Sao Paulo GP. The hearing took place via video conferencing and a decision will be announced on Friday where the first thing is to understand if there will be an investigation or not.
