The 2023 Austrian Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen take his seventh win in nine races, but the event was not remembered for the Dutchman's dominance - instead, the debate about track limit violations took the spotlight. In total, more than 1200 of them occured during the race, leading to changes in the race result hours after the finish. This begs the question: How to prevent chaos like this in the future?
A problem that many sim racers are all too familiar with, track limit violations are not exactly a new discussion point in motorsport. The slow disappearance of grass and gravel traps in favor of tarmac run-off areas from the early 2000s onwards fueled this, and most modern circuits feature these areas by now - like the Red Bull Ring, which has generous asphalt spaces outside of Niki Lauda Kurve and Remus, for example.
This results in drivers trying to extend the track as much as they can without being penalized - on the time sheets, that is, as running wide does not carry the on-track penalty it used to. As Formula One races mostly on modern purpose-built tracks and street circuits, the track limits debate has increased considerably over the last 20 years.
Other series face this issue as well, although often to a lesser degree as they include more circuits in their calendars that have a more old-school feel to them, like the IndyCar Series or GT World Challenge Europe. Drivers who run wide on tracks like Brands Hatch or Mid-Ohio risk losing control of their car and ending their races instead of gaining an advantage. Grass strips or gravel act as deterrents for extending the track.
Sim racers usually get hit with either a warning or an immediate slow-down penalty which add up to a stop-and-go or drive-through penalty if too many of them are incurred - but once they find out how far they can go without getting a warning, they tend to go there lap after lap, just like real racing drivers would.
Running wide does not carry an immediate penalty on most modern circuits anymore, as the Austrian Grand Prix showed.
A proposed solution to this is the addition of strips of grass and/or gravel immediately next to the white lines of the track and have tarmac run-off behind this, which would combine the best of both worlds. On the other hand, this would increase the risk of accidents once again - could this downside be something that would need to be accepted in order ot have track limits respected again?
A problem that many sim racers are all too familiar with, track limit violations are not exactly a new discussion point in motorsport. The slow disappearance of grass and gravel traps in favor of tarmac run-off areas from the early 2000s onwards fueled this, and most modern circuits feature these areas by now - like the Red Bull Ring, which has generous asphalt spaces outside of Niki Lauda Kurve and Remus, for example.
This results in drivers trying to extend the track as much as they can without being penalized - on the time sheets, that is, as running wide does not carry the on-track penalty it used to. As Formula One races mostly on modern purpose-built tracks and street circuits, the track limits debate has increased considerably over the last 20 years.
Other series face this issue as well, although often to a lesser degree as they include more circuits in their calendars that have a more old-school feel to them, like the IndyCar Series or GT World Challenge Europe. Drivers who run wide on tracks like Brands Hatch or Mid-Ohio risk losing control of their car and ending their races instead of gaining an advantage. Grass strips or gravel act as deterrents for extending the track.
Trade-offs for Different Solutions
The solution is not as easy as putting gravel traps back into run-off areas on circuits around the world, as most have to accomodate both motorcycle and car racing - while the former prefers gravel traps, the latter is safer on tarmac run-off when it comes to avoiding big accidents.Sim racers usually get hit with either a warning or an immediate slow-down penalty which add up to a stop-and-go or drive-through penalty if too many of them are incurred - but once they find out how far they can go without getting a warning, they tend to go there lap after lap, just like real racing drivers would.
Running wide does not carry an immediate penalty on most modern circuits anymore, as the Austrian Grand Prix showed.
A proposed solution to this is the addition of strips of grass and/or gravel immediately next to the white lines of the track and have tarmac run-off behind this, which would combine the best of both worlds. On the other hand, this would increase the risk of accidents once again - could this downside be something that would need to be accepted in order ot have track limits respected again?
