By: Charles Bradley, Global Editor in Chief Motorsport.com
Track limits – it’s up there with fuel saving and tyre management as the eyesores of modern-day motor racing.
As Red Bull’s Helmut Marko laments, Max Verstappen has lost a Grand Prix win, fastest lap and pole position already in 2021 due to falling on the wrong side of the FIA stewards’ track limits calls. Now, of course, lesson one here is for Max to not exceed them and he clearly did in this case in Portugal that cost him a point. And it’s the same for everyone.
But… I get the same feeling about track limits as I do about VAR in soccer. On one hand it’s a necessary evil to ensure a fair playing field, but on the other it can suck the fun out of the whole point of what we’re watching it for. And the way the limit is sometimes the kerb, and sometimes the white line, is plain confusing for viewers – and sometimes it’s for laptime deletion and sometimes for overtaking, but not always both… That is mind-numbing stuff.
If only we could have tracks that have a natural boundary, something that physically penalizes the driver for running wide in the first place, then this surely would all go away?
One final gripe: Let us see the evidence! For transparent decisions, the audience needs to see the actual video that led to the outcome – at least with VAR, or the goal decision system, you always get to see it for yourself. TV should quickly put the debate to bed in such circumstances. |
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