FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has warned that certain circuits must address track limits issues or face being dropped from the Formula 1 calendar.
The FIA president singled out problematic circuits – most notably Qatar’s Lusail International Circuit and Austria’s Red Bull Ring – for being the root of track limits issues.
Those two race weekends witnessed qualifying and race results becoming increasingly influenced by post-session penalties for infringements, frustrating many drivers.
The FIA was tasked with investigating over 1,200 possible track limit breaches during the Austrian Grand Prix, and the stewards deleted 51 laps over the course of Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix.
Ben Sulayem agreed that the sport is facing a problem over track limits. However, he insisted that the onus was not on the FIA’s policing but instead on problem circuits to make changes to deter drivers from the temptation of running wide.
“You’re absolutely right about it, we had the same issue in Austria, it was 1200 [offences there],” Ben Sulayem recalled.
“And I have to say, congratulations to the stewards because they spotted it. But is that the solution? No.
“The solution is to improve the track itself. I know some are resistant to it, but to tell you the truth, if they don’t, there is no race. It is as simple as this. We can’t afford this.”
Track limits became a key talking point over the Qatar Grand Prix weekend as the FIA were forced to make adjustments to the track boundaries in response to safety concerns from Pirelli.
Following the sole hour-long practice session on Friday, Pirelli observed signs of separation between the top compound and tyre sidewall as drivers ran wide over the newly introduced ‘Pyramid’ kerbs at the Lusail circuit.
This prompted an 18-lap lifespan to be attached to all sets of tyres for Sunday’s race and track limits between Turns 12 and 13 brought in by 80cm with a red and white kerb painted atop the tarmac.
In the wake of the Qatar weekend, Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll both branded the situation as a “joke”, with the latter adding that the stewards “don’t understand what Formula 1 is”.
“We have to work on a solution,” Ben Sulayem stressed. “One of the solutions is to make it slippery when they go off. Nobody can stop the drivers except the drivers themselves.
“We can think of the height [of the kerbs]. Does it damage the cars? Or maybe there is a possibility of putting some gravel, but with gravel, we have to be very careful.
“How deep is the gravel? Because you don’t want anyone to get stuck. And how big is the gravel? because you don’t want the car to be damaged. It is a balance.
“But I believe now it’s not a matter of: oh, do we do it? We have to do it. And we have to listen to the drivers mainly, to the feedback from them.
“I will have to make it urgently because it has to be implemented for next year. We cannot afford [for it to continue], especially where we see it all the time.”
The FIA has escalated its stewarding of track limits at F1 grands prix through a revision of processes at its Remote Operations Centre.
However, further improvements can still be made, says the FIA president who is pushing for further technology and resources to stamp out the recurrence of track limits confusion.
“The use of technology should be there. It is being used in a lot of areas, but the FIA needs more resources to invest back into the sport.
“I’m not hiding here: we need more resources. I mean, it’s a $20 billion operation here and we cannot run it on a shoestring.
“Our agreement has to be better. You have to remember one thing: we own the championship. I represent the landlord, and we lease it. Our mission is different to Liberty but we are in the same boat.
“We should not be running this big responsibility with a shoestring. We are transparent.
“[We tell people] this is what it costs. People are bragging about how much each F1 team is worth, but the FIA should be free and have the resources to run it in the best way.
“Every time we are better, we make the teams better and we make the sport better.”
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