(Motorsports news) This scathing conclusion from the stewards follows an examination into the results of the recent F1 United States Grand Prix after the Haas team filed a right-of-review protest. After raising notice to incidences of Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant, Sergio Perez, and Lance Stroll exceeding the Austin track limits at Turn 6 that were not discovered by the stewards during the race, Haas may have promoted its driver Nico Hulkenberg to the points.
While the objection was dismissed because F1 team Haas’ case depended on onboard footage that was accessible at the time and did not meet the criteria for “significant” and “relevant” new information, the FIA has acknowledged faults in track limit policing. In their decision on the Haas protest, the stewards accept the FIA’s “inability” to consistently follow the present norms by which track limitations should be enforced.
As a result, they advocate for the speedy implementation of a solution to this “completely unsatisfactory” approach. “Given that, notwithstanding the formal outcome of this Haas decision, the stewards have seen individual pieces of evidence that appear to show potential track limit breaches at the apex of Turn 6, the stewards find their inability to properly enforce the current standard for track limits for all competitors completely unsatisfactory and therefore strongly recommend to all concerned that a solution to prevent further re-occurrences of this wide”
The CCTV camera at Turn 6 at the Circuit of The Americas, which was utilized in conjunction with onboard film to monitor potential track restriction violations, did not have a clear view of the turn apex. Throughout the season, the topic of track restrictions has come up. During the Austrian Grand Prix, the FIA recognized almost 1200 suspected examples of cars exceeding the painted white lines with all four wheels. As a result, gravel traps that were originally recommended by the governing body but rejected by Red Bull Ring organizers will now be built in time for the event in 2024.
The CCTV camera at Turn 6 at the Circuit of The Americas, which was utilized in conjunction with onboard film to monitor potential track restriction violations, did not have a clear view of the turn apex. Throughout the season, the topic of track restrictions has come up. During the Austrian Grand Prix, the FIA recognized almost 1200 suspected examples of cars exceeding the painted white lines with all four wheels.
As a result, gravel traps that were originally recommended by the governing body but rejected by Red Bull Ring organizers will now be built in time for the event in 2024. The white lines were painted thicker at some corners overnight in Qatar, the round immediately preceding the F1 US GP, as part of a temporary solution following multiple offenses during FP1 and Friday qualifying.
“Whether the problem is properly addressed by better technology solutions, track modifications, a combination thereof, or a different regulation and enforcement standard, the F1 stewards leave to those better positioned to make such assessments,” the stewards conditioned. “However, given the timing of this decision, it is clear that a complete solution will not be possible this year.”
“But given the number of different circuits where significant track limit issues arose this season, acknowledging that the FIA in conjunction with the circuits have already made significant strides, further solutions should be found before the start of the 2024 season.” The FIA’s establishment of a Remote Operations Centre in Geneva has sped up the process of identifying and responding to track limitations, while the number of staff monitoring potential violations in an F1 race has increased.
Also read: General Motors is solely interested in entering Formula One with Andretti
