Between the Racing Lines | Formula One is complicated, confusing and constantly evolving. This story is part of our guide to help any fan — regardless of how long they’ve watched the sport or how they discovered it — navigate the pinnacle of motorsports.
A drinking game Formula One fans shouldn’t play during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend: A shot for every track limit infringement.
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Considering last year’s Austrian GP weekend, it could be a doozy. Friday’s qualifying session alone featured 47 deleted lap times, a marginal increase from the 2022 race (43). During the grand prix, race control reviewed more than 1,200 moments when a driver potentially exceeded track limits. Yes, 1,200. Ultimately, they deleted 83 lap times, resulting in eight drivers receiving penalties. The final race classification didn’t come until nearly five hours after the checkered flag fell after a protest from Aston Martin claimed that numerous drivers exceeded track limits and were not penalized. And the team was right.
Track limits seem simple: Stay within the white lines, and you’re golden. But at some tracks, this can be trickier — and so is policing and enforcing penalties on the missteps.
“In the race, you have the dirty air of the car in front, which washes you out of the corner even more, which makes it even more tricky to stay,” Carlos Sainz said in Austria last year. “You’re no longer fully in control (of) how the car reacts to the dirty air of the car in front.”
The rules and penalties
Simply put, ‘exceeding track limits’ is when all four tires cross the white line surrounding the racing surface.
According to article 33.3 of the Sporting Regulations, “Drivers must make every reasonable effort to use the track at all times and may not leave the track without a justifiable reason.
“Drivers will be judged to have left the track if no part of the car remains in contact with it and, for the avoidance of doubt, any white lines defining the track edges are considered to be part of the track, but the kerbs are not.
“Should a car leave the track, the driver may re-join, however, this may only be done when it is safe to do so and without gaining any lasting advantage. At the absolute discretion of the Race Director, a driver may be given the opportunity to give back the whole of any advantage he gained by leaving the track.”
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Over the years, it’s become a highly debated topic because of how track limit infringements are policed during different sessions. During qualifying, it is an automatic lap time deletion. During a grand prix, drivers are given two heads-ups for exceeding the limits (and gaining an advantage) before being shown a black-and-white flag on the third violation. Consider this a warning flag because, on the fourth infringement, it is then referred to the stewards for penalty consideration.
It starts as a five-second penalty but escalates if the driver continues exceeding track limits. The fifth is a 10-second penalty, and then the clock basically resets. Take Esteban Ocon’s penalty total for track limit infringements at last year’s Austrian GP, for example. It amounted to 30 seconds (two five-second and two 10-second penalties) because he exceeded track limits 10 times.
Austria’s ‘unprecedented situation’
After the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, the FIA revealed that race control was reviewing more than 1,200 instances of a driver potentially exceeding track limits, and race control was in the middle of reviewing them before Aston Martin filed its protest over the provisional race result.
The track layout (long straights and corners where it is easy for drivers to go wide) and repeated reported offenses of drivers leaving the track led to an “unprecedented situation” where officials couldn’t review all of the potential infringements couldn’t while the race unfolded, an FIA spokesperson said at the time. The governing body gave the circuit recommendations on how to help address the issue moving forward: “a gravel trap at the exit of turns 9 and 10.” Every infringement happened at those two corners during the 2023 Austrian GP.
The track has added a gravel trap, which will serve as a natural deterrent against exceeding track limits. Additionally, the circuit added a blue line to some portions of Red Bull Ring as a visual aid to help race control judge potential infringements. Traditionally, a white line is followed by a curb, but now, some parts of Red Bull Ring will show the white line, a blue line, and then the curb. A few corners at Spain’s Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya also had the visual aid.
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Lastly, changes have been made on the policing front. The FIA has been training artificial intelligence to help speed up the decision-making process regarding potential track limit infringements. This began in Abu Dhabi last year, though a human still makes the final decision. The training process is still ongoing but has been operational throughout the 2024 season and should help mitigate the wait time for decisions.
– Additional reporting by The Athletic’s Luke Smith.
Top photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images; Design: Dan Goldfarb/The Athletic