F1’s Austrian GP: How 47 track limits violations scrambled qualifying

Fans who tuned into Friday’s qualifying session for the Austrian Grand Prix heard one phrase constantly repeated that had major implications for Sunday’s race: track limits.

One after another, various drivers’ times — including both Red Bull drivers within seconds of each other — were deleted because of the critical error. It may seem simple to some: stay within the white lines, and you’re golden. But policing the missteps and enforcing the penalties in a fair manner is trickier.

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Heading into the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, drivers faced questions about impeding concerns, given how short the Red Bull Ring circuit is and the role traffic could have played. ‘Exceeding track limits,’ though, stole the show as the lap time deletions caused shuffling in the qualifying order even after sessions ended. It’s nothing new at this venue: Last year’s race saw 43 lap times deleted, and the grid may be in the same ballpark considering it’s a sprint race weekend. Friday’s qualifying session featured a whopping 47 lap times scrapped, with only two drivers – Logan Sargeant and Charles Leclerc – not committing a breach.

“Today looked very silly,” said Verstappen, who had his first lap deleted in Q2 for a breach at the exit of Turn 10. “It almost looked like we were amateurs out there, the amount of lap times that were getting deleted.

“I don’t think it was a good look today.”

Austrian GP Qualifying Deleted Laps

Driver	Turn 6	Turn 9	Turn 10	Total Deleted
Lando Norris	0	0	6	6
Carlos Sainz	1	3	2	6
Max Verstappen	0	0	4	4
Pierre Gasly	0	0	4	4
Alex Albon	0	1	3	4
Esteban Ocon	0	0	3	3
Sergio Pérez	0	1	2	3
Nico Hülkenberg	1	1	0	2
Lewis Hamilton	0	0	2	2
Zhou Guanyu	0	0	2	2
Kevin Magnussen	0	0	2	2
Lance Stroll	0	2	0	2
Fernando Alonso	0	1	1	2
Nyck de Vries	0	0	1	1
Yuki Tsunoda	0	0	1	1
George Russell	0	1	0	1
Oscar Piastri	0	1	0	1
Valtteri Bottas	0	0	1	1
Logan Sargeant	0	0	0	0
Charles Leclerc	0	0	0	0

What are the track limit rules and penalties?

Track limit rules have varied from circuit to corner to session over the years, but the FIA took a more robust, clearer approach starting last season.

Track limits are simply defined as the white line surrounding the racing surface. If a car’s four wheels cross that line, the FIA considers the driver is “exceeding track limits.” The boundary is a common topic of debate among the drivers, whether during practice, qualifying or the race. As seen during the Austrian GP qualifying session, drivers whose four tires went past the white line saw their lap times deleted. But during the race, there’s more grace — to an extent.

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.

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“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.”

For a grand prix, drivers are essentially given two head-ups for exceeding track limits (and gaining an advantage) before they are shown a black-and-white flag for the third infringement, which essentially is a warning flag. If they cross over a fourth time, it’s referred to the stewards, and penalties are assessed. During last year’s Austrian Grand Prix, Lando Norris, Pierre Gasly, Zhou Guanyu and Sebastian Vettel were all dealt five-second penalties for exceeding track limits numerous times.

And some may recall Nico Hulkenberg received time penalties for leaving the track five times “without a justifiable reason,” per the race stewards, during the 2023 season opener in Bahrain.

Why the Red Bull Ring is so bad for track limits

Track limits are an annual talking point at the Red Bull Ring due to the nature of the track layout. The long straights followed by the 90-degree right-hand corners at both Turn 1 and Turn 3 make it easy for drivers to run wide and potentially gain an advantage. This is curbed at Turn 1, quite literally, by placing a yellow sausage curb on the exit to ensure they lose time if they run wide.

But Turn 10 was the trickiest corner for drivers. Of the 47 breaches, 33 came at the high-speed, downhill right-hander to close out the lap. The elevation change results in a lot of compression midway through the corner, meaning gravity is working against the drivers as they try to stay within the white lines.

“The car is getting lighter in the middle of the corner because there is this drop in the track,” explained Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. “However the car is positioned there, it has a big influence on the exit, and from where we are, so low in the car, we cannot see anything.”

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Another track limits factor that led to so many deleted qualifying lap times was the closeness with which the FIA was policing the matter.

Since the start of 2022, the FIA has been operating a virtual race control room in Geneva, Switzerland, from where race officials at the track receive additional support. It is a similar system to the replay review systems used in MLB and the NHL, or the virtual assistant referee (VAR) in soccer.

Those within the virtual race control room have access to additional camera angles compared to what we see on television, meaning they can more accurately police whether or not a driver has gone over the white line. By having more eyeballs on track limits, breaches can be handled more swiftly and accurately.

Carlos Sainz noted  the long time it took for some of the decisions on track limits to come down, claiming Ferrari wasted a fresh set of tires in Q2 due to uncertainty about whether his lap would be wiped.

“It’s like there are so many track limits that even the FIA cannot keep up,” he said. “Hopefully, we can improve that because it makes our life extremely difficult in the car, and we need to keep finding a solution.”

One thing that has also been agreed with the drivers is they will always get the benefit of the doubt when a potential breach is so marginal it cannot be clearly defined.

How to fix it

The easiest way to stop track limits from being such a thorny issue would be to go back to a more old-school approach and put gravel on the corner exit. This way, drivers will be less inclined to run as wide, knowing they would be guaranteed to lose time should they hit the gravel.

But gravel can cause safety issues. At last year’s British Grand Prix, Zhou Guanyu’s car dug into the gravel at Turn 1, causing it to flip into the catch fencing behind the safety barrier. Motorcycling racing championships such as MotoGP also prefer to use tarmac run-off areas for the same safety reasons, meaning tracks that want to host both F1 and MotoGP — such as the Red Bull Ring — need a solution that suits both series.

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Verstappen and Leclerc both said it would be better to make the white line at the final corner wider to make it a more visual aid. Leclerc also said it would be better if drivers could feel the white line from within the car or the red and white curb beyond the white line be used as the track limit.

One solution introduced at Monza’s final corner, Parabolica, was to bring the gravel closer to the exit to stop drivers from running wide. But this corner has no elevation, making it easier for drivers to judge where the white line is.

Although the drivers weren’t certain about the right answer, all agreed something had to change for next year.

“What we saw today with so many laps being deleted, so many drivers getting caught out, so many laps that even we couldn’t keep up with deleting so many laps, that we need to find a way to correct it,” said Sainz.

“We will sit down, and hopefully, for next year, it’s done. If not, then it means we’re not making much progress.”

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(Photo of Max Verstappen: Clive Rose/Getty Images)