New race director, Niels Wittich has made clear there is to be no ambiguity over what exceeding the track limits means under his rule.

In recent times, the rules over track limits have become somewhat blurred with former race director, Michael Masi, having been known to not update the rules several times over the course of race weekends but in some case contradict his own previous instruction.

Clearly, starting out the way he intends to continue, Niels Wittich's first decree to the teams as race director leaves no room for confusion.

"In accordance with the provisions of Article 33.3, the white lines define the track edges," he states in the event note.

"Drivers will be judged to have left the track if no part of the car remains in contact with it and, for the avoidance of doubt, any white lines defining the track edges are considered to be part of the track but the kerbs are not."

Twelve months ago, the uncertainty over the track limits at Turn 4 were a constant bone of contention, with a number of drivers repeatedly running wide at the exit.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by The stogie, 18/03/2022 20:34

"'Track limits'!! What a joke. F1 is selling entertainment NOT racing so add some excitement to the 'show'. After all aren't these the 'best drivers in the world'? If it's paved let 'em race!!"

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2. Posted by Spindoctor, 18/03/2022 10:39

"All well & good in terms of simple unambiguous off-track excursions to gain a speed advantage.
In contested corners no more or less "unambiguous" than before. When drivers bung their car down the inside, pushing opponents off-track someone will "interpret" who's at fault and penalise accordingly.
Please explain how this is different...."

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3. Posted by kenji, 18/03/2022 10:11

"@ Defiant...far to liberal. Once gets a verbal, twice gets a flag and a drive through and three times a black flag. Obviously if another car is involved then that would be based on who was at fault in order to inflict a penalty. i still like the Moto GP answer. They have an 'off track' track, the long lap. If a rider ignores a warning then he gets given the long lap to be taken immediately. Great solution and not too hard to implement at almost every track.
"

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4. Posted by TokyoAussie, 18/03/2022 3:20

"Would it be a bit premature to start laughing now?"

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5. Posted by Defiant, 18/03/2022 0:58

"@kenji, I'll throw out a suggestion.

Any time a car goes over that white line in qually should be a deleted time, no excuses.

3 or maybe 5 times over the white line during the race gets you a drive through, assuming its in a normal driving situation, if you're off the track and its clearly slower than an average over the previous 5 laps in that sector it doesn't get counted.

I could live with those."

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6. Posted by kenji, 17/03/2022 23:40

"I shall wait and see how this is administered, consistently. What are the penalties for the first infringement during a race and any subsequent delinquent acts....?"

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7. Posted by ChickenFarmerF1, 17/03/2022 21:45

"Bad rules applied consistently are better than good rules applied inconsistently.

Now, we just need to get to good rules, applied consistently."

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8. Posted by Simon in Adelaide, 17/03/2022 21:05

"Good. Liberal interpretation just created ambiguity."

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No blurred lines over track limits under new race director

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