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F2 and F3 drivers share their verdict on changes made to the Red Bull Ring to reduce track limits penalties.
Track limits penalties have become the defining part of the Austrian Grand Prix throughout the past few years, but changes were officially made to the circuit ahead of this weekend.
Strips of gravel were added in just outside of the white lines at Turns 9 and 10. Additionally at Turn 4, the white line was moved closer to the gravel. These changes, made by the FIA, were implemented in order to reduce the need for track limits penalties. If a driver goes outside of the white lines at these corners, they go into the gravel and and up losing time instead of gaining it.
Driver reactions
After Qualifying on Friday, FormulaNerds spoke to several of the Formula 2 and Formula 3 drivers and asked how they feel about the changes to the circuit. Their reactions were overwhelmingly positive, all of them saying that they strongly approved of the new gravel traps.
Formula 3 polesitter Luke Browning spoke about how he admired the “old school” approach that the gravel traps allow drivers to have.
“You know what?” He told FormulaNerds, “I think [its] a really good improvement. The kerbs haven’t changed but the white lines have been painted back onto the red and white kerb where it was.
“So basically you’re limited by the gravel which I think is old school, it’s good. If you go off track you’ve lost time anyway and I think it really shows that maximising that old school, push it to the limit, that’s what we’re all here for. We’re not here for skipping off by a millisecond and yeah, okay, the lap was quicker but then it gets disallowed.
“I really like the fact that if you go off here, often its slower anyway. So you don’t really have people feeling like they’ve been done out of anything, and I think the guys at Spielberg have done a really good job with that.”
Arvid Lindblad, who qualified second for the Formula 3 Feature Race, seconded Browning’s opinion, saying: “It’s been a really good improvement, I wasn’t racing here last year but obviously I was following it. Red Bull Ring has been notorious for track limits being very difficult, but the FIA and Spielberg, everyone here has done a really good job, because I think it’s been less of an issue.
“There have been less laps deleted and we can really push to the limit like Luke said. It’s cool to have the gravel as a limit versus trying to find where the white line is. From that side it’s a good improvement and I’ve really enjoyed the changes.”
Making this change at other tracks?
Spielberg is hardly the only track where drivers repeatedly receive infractions for track limits. Has this fix in Austria been successful enough that it could be used elsewhere?
Formula 2 polesitter Dennis Hauger was of the opinion that the FIA should make this kind of change at other circuits on the calendar.
“I think it’s a really good change to be honest,” he told FormulaNerds. “We’ve had several tracks where it’s been a problem or it’s not been easy at least to monitor it.
“In this case, especially in the two last corners, to have the gravel just outside the track limit line, it’s good because in the end if you go over the limit you get punished for it and I think that’s how it’s supposed to be. So for me it’s a really good change and it would be nice to have it on more tracks to be honest.”
Second-placed Joshua Durksen agreed that these changes were “a good solution” to the track limits issues that have been rampant at the Red Bull Ring.
He added: “To be honest I really like this change. I like that they made the kerb smaller, at least they gave us a bit more room. And like they said, if you’re off the line you’re in the gravel and you get punished immediately.
“What I like as well is that they just made a little strip and not the whole thing gravel, because like this you go off, you lose time, but you’re still able to recover and not be completely off the pace or at the back. To be honest I’m really happy with this change and I think this is a good solution for track limits.”
Feature Image Credit: FIA Formula 3