The FIA contemplates stricter ten-second penalties for track limit violations, a move questioned by drivers like Charles Leclerc for its severity.
The FIA is considering amending track limit penalties to impose ten-second penalties on drivers, rather than the current five-second sanction. Charles Leclerc is skeptical of this idea, thinking it may be overly harsh.
“It seems quite harsh. I believe that’s true. But I think the priority should be to fix or at least help us adhere to track limits better,” laments the Ferrari driver.
“Because at the moment, with how the white lines are painted, you really don’t see them. So I felt that five seconds was already quite painful. Ten seconds, in my opinion, is too much.”
George Russell shares this view: “As Charles mentioned, I think it’s hard to grasp from television how difficult it is from inside the car. You sit so low that you only see the first 15 centimeters of your tires, and the cars run 70 millimeters off the ground, or even less at the end of a straight line.”
“So, we need a curb that we can feel, and ultimately, at some circuits we go to, there’s no track limit issue at all. Therefore, we need to find a way to address this problem.”
Nico Hülkenberg believes that some tracks are trickier to manage in this regard, but it would change the drivers’ approach: “It’s true, it’s hard to see, but still, you know, I think we have an idea. Some tracks are better than others, but I think it would force us to be more cautious, that’s for sure.”
Lance Stroll also agrees with Leclerc and Russell: “I think it’s a bit harsh, but yes, if you go off track, you get a penalty, and whether it’s five seconds, 10 seconds, we all try to avoid that. I think some of the bigger issues are actually with the track limit situation itself.”
“At many circuits we visit, I think if we changed the very nature of many circuits and made it a bit easier to stay within the track limits, but maybe also more penalizing if you go off track – with gravel or grass – we would have fewer problems.”
FIA Track Limit Penalties. FIA Track Limit Penalties
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