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Debate | 'Track limits fiasco is the Red Bull Ring's owner's fault'

3 July 2023 at 20:28
Last update 3 July 2023 at 20:56
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  • Kada Sarkozi
  • Editor

It was utter chaos. The results of the Austrian Grand Prix did not become final until well after the end of the race, as the race committee had to do a complete overhaul (following a protest from Aston Martin) of everything that had happened in the afternoon hours. In the end, 12 penalties were handed out in the evening, to eight drivers. But who is to blame? The FIA had warned beforehand that trouble was coming, but the owner of the Red Bull Ring refused to make any adjustments to the track. Can this track limits fiasco be blamed on the Red Bull Ring people? GPblog is curious to hear your opinion!

So many cars went off-track that it was simply impossible to expect the FIA to be able to react quickly to all infractions. No less than 1,200 reports of possible violations were recorded by the Red Bull Ring's automatic systems. Not all of these were violations. But they all had to be checked, one by one, to see if indeed the track limits had been exceeded.

The stewards dealing with this are in Geneva every Grand Prix, where the FIA has a special building with sophisticated equipment to record all kinds of violations during a GP. Compare it to VAR in football: the people in Switzerland see something, and then possibly notify the stewards present at the circuit.


Organisation refused gravel

Already immediately after the '22 Austrian Grand Prix, F1 race leader Niels Wittich had informed the race organisers that it would be better to lay gravel in corners 9 and 10, as he suspected it would be a huge hassle when honouring track limits. The Austrians did not want that, as gravel is far too dangerous for MotoGP at that point. So Wittich's fears came true last weekend. A hasty attempt had been made to make the white lines thicker to make it easier for riders. However, the rain made this impossible.

As a result of the Austrians' refusal, the FIA had to make do with what it had. So there is something to be said for the organisation being the main culprit of the chaos, as it was avoidable with some interventions on their part. Do you agree? Can the farce of the Austrian GP be blamed on the owner of the Red Bull Ring? Let us know in the comments!