F1 News: Martin Brundle Provides Solution For The Repeating Track Limits Problems

Former F1 driver and Sky Sports reporter Martin Brundle has a solution for the track limits problem that showed up again during the United States Grand Prix weekend in Austin. Though the FIA is adamant about following the rulebook, Martin has an alternative in mind that could solve the problem.

Max Verstappen fell prey to the infamous track limits rule when his fastest time was deleted for exceeding track limits on turn 19. Though he isn't the first one to have experienced the wrath of the rule, it has become increasingly problematic for the drivers over recent years.

Listen To The Latest Driven Mad Podcast Episode

This has been happening on several circuits this year during qualifying but, the Grand Prix has been joining the bandwagon as well. For example in Austria, 12 track limits penalties were levied after the race while Alex Albon received a five-second penalty for crossing the white line in Austin. If you notice the trend, the track limits rule seems to be seeping into every little opening that the FIA finds.

Brundle, who has seen the problem rise over the years, wrote in his Sky F1 column:

“Track limits reared its ugly head again, as they always do at COTA, and pretty much everywhere these days.

"The white lines defining the edge of the racetrack in the three most critical corners were cheekily widened overnight on Friday, and this meant that in the race there were 35 recorded track limit infringements in the eight corners monitored. Given 17 cars finished the 56-lap race, those corners were navigated successfully over 7,600 times, to put it in perspective.

"The conundrum remains the same, drivers will always push the outer limits because it’s faster. High kerbs can damage cars and tyres, and launch them dangerously into the air. Big tarmac run off areas give options to avoid incidents and keep cars in the race, and avoid safety cars and red flags. There wasn’t even a yellow flag let alone a safety car in the race.

"All the support race categories in Austin had more lenient interpretations of track limits and it didn’t look especially professional, and certainly not acceptable in F1. It’s a problem that’s easily fixed with the unyielding walls and barriers of a street circuit, but much more difficult for the many different circuits of the world. Specific and more colourfully painted zones which must be driven over and have sensors or a permanent camera observing for instant feedback may be one solution.”

The former driver concluded that a concrete solution needs to be in place that would allow the drivers to see the edge clearly. He added:

"The drivers are clearly struggling to see the painted white lines at high speed while peering out of a cluttered cockpit, so bright zones and a touch more leeway would help reduce the issue. Something slippery and uninviting just the other side of the kerb may have to be a solution.

"Turn one in Abu Dhabi interests me because there’s a slight drop down onto the run-off area which compromises the drivers into the high speed turns two and three, and so they tend to be more accurate there. Whatever the fix, letting drivers make up their own racetrack is not one of them.”