Time to take track limits seriously

[sizzle]

About time this was put in the spotlight.

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Lewis Hamilton has brought one such unintended consequence into sharp focus. In an interview published this week by the Daily Mail, Hamilton complained drivers no longer pay the price for exceeding the limits of the track.

"In [Ayrton] Senna's day, if he went one foot over that kerb, it would be grass and he would spin and be penalised," said Hamilton. "He would be right on the limit, rather than over the limit and I respect that style of driving more.

"Now you can go beyond and get back because modern tracks have run-off areas. They used to be gravel. Hit that and your car was damaged or stuck. Now you can push beyond, go wide and come back on.

This has been a pet hate of mine for some time.

[Marbot]

Bernie has always been anxious to have all of the main protagonists in the race at all times. Lewis himself may well have wanted the great God of tarmac to have come to his aid on several occasions, not least China 07, where he managed to find the only bit of gravel on the entire circuit.

[Bononi]

Sometime in the future it will be like a videogame, no damage at all.

[Sodemo]

I'm surprised he has only just spotted it, because this disease started to spread around 2002/2003. Whilst tarmac run off is good in certain situations, it is a big let off for drivers who stray slightly wide. It also doesn't stop cars with flat tyres, or cars with suspension failure, see the WTCC Hungary 2013 race for that.

Mt Fuji is perhaps the biggest causality of this trend. A once great classic venue, totally ruined by modern safety standards and acres of tarmac run off. If there is a need for this type of run off, then in my view there needs to be a minimum of a 3 metre band of grass that separates the race track area, to the tarmac run off. And it can't be grasscrete or kerbs, or green grippy tarmac, it needs to be grass (or Sand if its Bahrain).

[jsTrecu]

Alonso using run offs to gain speed trying to overtake Petrov in Abu Dhabi 2010 was another clear example that showed some flaws in the conception.

[bella]

i'm sure he has spotted it some time before but it has proliferated in the past few years what with the new circuits in abu dhabi, india, austin, etc coming online. others like spa have also been ruined in the past 2-3 years, just in the time lewis has been in f1.

i do agree with him. and i disagree with bernie's notion that marbot mentioned. sorry, but the key part of being a title protagonist is learning not to throw it off and make silly mistakes.

[paddy]

It's my main bug bear with modern circuits. The drivers I respected kept it on the island whilst still driving on the limit. Mistakes were punished and that made the racing better in my view. MS has been the biggest culprit in recent years as he constantly used run off areas during practice sessions to find the limit. I'm not sure he'd have done that a few years ago. At the top level it's more of a gymkhana than motor racing. It's sometimes difficult to tell where the actual track is.

[bella]

that's why i respect drivers who can make it work around monaco. if they can learn that place without crossing the limits and going all reliant robin then they're damn good. as a fan looking for a dramatic race it usually comes up a bit short but it's one of the only races where you can let that go and actually watch each car and driver as individuals rather than racing to be the first to the flag.

[Greem]

I bet monitoring and reporting the four-wheels-off rule doesn't get mentioned in the officials' briefing at Monaco

[bella]

i think "four wheels off" might have a more literal meaning there though, and be worthy of a trophy rather than the hairdryer treatment

[Knowlesy]

I totally agree with Hamilton and I have always had the same thought on the issue.

Remember that "amazing, sensational" battle between Kubica and Massa at Fuji one year that was fought entirely on the run-off areas? Cringeworthy. Stay between the white lines and use your skill.

The Marbot school of thought is complete nonsense, races didn't used to end with three quarters of the field beached in the gravel ffs.

[frostie]

Tarmac run offs were a great solution to an advertising question more so than a safety question. It's great to be able to put a big ad on the run offs instead of painting a logo on the grass but in terms of racing I hate them as it seems does pretty much everyone else.

None of us want to see a situation where gravel traps increase the safety risks but as long as they are properly constructed there shouldnt be a safety concern. The use of tarmac run offs obviously encourages drivers to push beyond the bounds of the track and it turns difficult corners into much easier ones because you can always bail out and take to the run off.

Also as far as safety is concerned gravel traps are much more preferable to bike racers instead of crashing onto tarmac.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

I totally agree with Hamilton and I have always had the same thought on the issue.

Remember that "amazing, sensational" battle between Kubica and Massa at Fuji one year that was fought entirely on the run-off areas? Cringeworthy. Stay between the white lines and use your skill.

The Marbot school of thought is complete nonsense, races didn't used to end with three quarters of the field beached in the gravel ffs.

Totally agree.

[Paradise City]

The teams like the tarmac run-off. It saves them money and they can use safety as an excuse. Hard to see them rolling back on it.

[Greem]

There's already a rule related to exceeding (or "respecting") the track limits.

I'd say something about consistency of application of the rule, but applying it at all would be a start.

[stripedcat]

I don't that circuits do have run-off areas - as this does give greater safety and allow cars to rejoin the race. However, if a car goes off then it does have to take some penalty for going off. The run-offs shouldn't be abused for cutting corners and overtaking on. Having lower grip surfaces on them maybe helps - although that might negate some of the safety aspects of them.

I do take a lot of the concerns from here that recently the run-off areas have been abused some what in both qualifying and the races.

This does make you respect the circuits like Monaco and Canada a bit more.

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Originally Posted by Greem

I bet monitoring and reporting the four-wheels-off rule doesn't get mentioned in the officials' briefing at Monaco

In fact I am pretty sure it does. It's not rare to see people overshooting the Nouvelle Chicane, and also people cutting Ste Devote on lap 1 has been a massive can of worm recently.

[Nicholosophy]

I was watching the WEC last weekend and saw quite a few stop-go penalties handed out for exceeding the track limits. F1 should do this too. Pinacle of motorsport they say...

[IceMan_PJN]

Originally Posted by Bononi

Sometime in the future it will be like a videogame, no damage at all.

I guess if it all became Gran Turismo. Forza Motorsport and Codemasters' F1 games have damage.