The FIA shares track limits details of F1 Turkish GP along with DRS zones, changes made to the circuit plus stewards’ names, PU elements and more.

Turn 1, Turn 6 and Turn 14 are the corners which will be looked upon by the FIA stewards for track limits at Istanbul Park during the F1 Turkish GP as per the Race Directors’ note. Not only time set, but safe rejoining by the drivers will also be looked at.

Failing to do will result in time deletion and possible penalties if repeated. Here’s what the FIA note states in details:

Turn 1 Exit –

a) A lap time achieved during any practice session or the race by leaving the track on the exit of Turn 1, will result in that lap time being invalidated by the stewards.

Turn 6 Exit –

a) A lap time achieved during any practice session or the race by leaving the track on the exit of Turn 6, 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 and the immediately following lap time being invalidated by the stewards.

General – Turn 1 Exit, Turn 6 Exit and Turn 14 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 1 Exit, or Turn 6 Exit or Turn 14 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 1 and/or Turn 6 Exit and/or Turn 14 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.

Turn 9 – Run Off –

a) A bump is installed across the Turn 9 run-ff area. The orange bollard identifies the end of the bump. See attached image 1 on page 7.

Moving on to the circuit changes, the FIA notes states that the entire track surface has been ‘water blasted’ to improve grip level after last year’s troubles, while additional kerbs has been installed at Turn 1 exit, Turn 5 exit and Turn 14 exit.

The Race Control Video wall has been upgraded, while the safety and medical car line has been extended in the pitlane. Speaking of the latter, the FIA will have a new pair driving the respective cars, with Bruno Correia and Dr Bruno Franceschini taking the mantle.

The former drive the Formula E safety car, while the latter is one of the FIA medical delegate. They are replacing longtime personnel Alan van der Merwe and Dr. Ian Roberts, as both will miss the grand prix due to being COVID-19 positive.

Changes to the circuit –

  • The entire track surface has been ‘water blasted’ to increase the grip level.
  • An additional Kerb element to create a double kerb has been added behind the existing kerbs at the following locations: a) Turn 1 Exit; b) Turn 5 Exit; Turn 14 Exit.
  • The Race Control Video Wall has been upgraded.
  • The Safety Car / Medical Car parking position at Pit Lane exit has been extended not to impede the final pit stop position.

Talking about the DRS zones, the FIA note states that the detection zone for the first is 82m before Turn 9 and activation 82m before Turn 11, while the second detection zone is 33m before Turn 13 and activation being 69m after Turn 14.

In terms of the PU elements until the start of F1 Turkish GP, majority of the grid has three parts used of ICE, TC and MGU-H, where the Red Bull duo along with Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly and Nicholas Latifi are on their fourth element and Valtteri Bottas on his fifth.

On the MGU-K side, most are on their second element, while Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, Sebastian Vettel, Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine duo are on their third. And finally, on fourth are the Red Bull duo, Bottas and Gasly.

On the ES side, most are on their second element, with AlphaTauri duo, Verstappen and Leclerc are on their third and Perez is on his fourth. On CE side, again most have only taken their second, with AlphaTauri duo, Bottas, Verstappen and Leclerc on third.

Perez, meanwhile, is on his fourth. Moving on to the four FIA stewards for F1 Turkish GP, Dr Gerd Ennser will lead the panel of Felix Holter, Enrique Bernoldi and Fatih Altayli.

Here’s FIA Race Directors’ note: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2021%20Turkish%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Race%20Directors’%20Event%20Notes%20.pdf

Here’s PU elements list: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2021%20Turkish%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20PU%20elements%20used%20per%20driver%20up%20to%20now.pdf

Here’s new Red Bull livery for Turkish GP