The FIA is to “renew” its recommendation that the Red Bull Ring adds a gravel trap at the exit of Turns 9 and 10 to tackle the issue of track limits following an “unprecedented situation” in the Austrian Grand Prix.
More than 100 laptimes were deleted in Sunday’s race as drivers repeatedly exceeded track limits, mainly on the entry and especially the exit of the final corner.
UPDATE: Eight penalties issued, 14 drivers change position
Seven drivers received time penalties in the race for repeat offences and now “a number of deleted laps” apparently missed during the grand prix have come to light, following a protest from Aston Martin.
Race control has been tasked with “a reconciliation of all deleted laps with penalties applied”, indicating more sanctions may be coming post-race if the conclusion is that several offences were indeed missed.
The FIA has said that it had already started a review prior to the Aston Martin protest because “an unprecedented situation arose which resulted in all potential infringements not being able to be reviewed during the race”.
F1’s governing body says race control was tasked with reviewing “well over 1200 instances where a car was reported as potentially leaving the track”.
The Austrian GP result has been thrown into doubt by this situation. They will be updated upon the completion of the review of every potential track limits offence that could not be reviewed during the race.
“In order to address the issue for future events we will renew our recommendation to the circuit to add a gravel trap at the exit of Turns 9 and 10,” an FIA spokesperson said.
“We note that while this is not a straightforward solution in relation to other series that race here, it has proved to be very effective at other corners and circuits with similar issues.”
This solution is one that the likes of world champion Max Verstappen have advocated but it has previously been considered difficult because MotoGP also races at the Red Bull Ring.
Tracks that host two-and-four-wheeled categories tend to avoid gravel traps where possible because they are less suitable for bikes.
