Formula 1: Track limits should not be this controversial

Eugh, track limits. Nobody in Formula 1 likes talking about them, but with every passing round, larger portions of the race weekend are being affected by them. Case in point, Bahrain.

The 2021 Formula 1 season opener was a very entertaining spectacle but, as usual, there is a lot of discussion regarding certain events that happened during the Bahrain Grand Prix. The race wasn’t without the usual Formula 1 controversy.

With just a handful of laps remaining, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton went wheel-to-wheel for the lead through sector one, with the Red Bull driver trying a move around the outside of turn four. He made the pass, but it happened outside the track limits. So he allowed Hamilton back past after turn 10.

Why is this so controversial, you ask? Track limits are always something that nobody likes to mention. Like Voldemort. Track limits are a farce at times; let’s be real. And an example is this specific weekend. Let’s get this right. On Friday you could go wide at turn four, then also on Friday, you couldn’t, and that stance remained on Sunday.

But drivers were informed on Friday, seemingly all except both Red Bull drivers, that track limits at turn four for the race on Sunday would not be looked at. Then during the race, Hamilton used the wide turn four line 29 times before being warned.

There are certain corners on the majority of tracks where the Formula 1 circus travels to that need track limits enforced.

The best drivers in the world should be able to keep at least a tire’s width on the track, even when pushing hard. Racing drivers can be possessed when in the car, and that is what makes them great. If there is a hint of allowance when it comes to finding and gaining time, they will maximize it. That is programmed into them.

Hamilton’s 29 extreme excursions around turn four have been bought up plenty of times since the race, with the stewards thinking he began to “take the mick”. Combining those 29 extreme excursions, he gained around five seconds. Remember, he won by just 0.745 seconds.

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But he was not the only driver, by any means, pushing the limits of turn four. He was just pushing it further. It is expected that every driver in the field was doing the same, or at least something similar — because they could. The problem is, in the race, the white line was the limit.

So when was the limit of the track the white line, and when was it the red and white kerbs? As touched on previously, during the race, the solid white line on the edge of the tarmac that the cars are supposed to be on was the limit. Going further than that, meaning going further then the kerb, was what has been defined as “mick-taking”.

But why wasn’t the white line the limit throughout the entire weekend? Why the constant changing from the white line in one session to the kerb in the next?

Drivers were informed on Friday that track limits at turn four for the race on Sunday would not be looked at.

Verstappen made what would have been the race-winning move by going wide at turn four — is that right?

Well, kind of. Despite what the track limits are, an overtake completed off the circuit is always a no-no.

How about — and this sounds crazy — if all four wheels are outside the white line, that is exceeding track limits. How wild is that?

It begs a lot of questions. The drivers have to be pegged back on the circuit. Otherwise, where does it stop? A strong hand is needed, and the drivers will undoubtedly complain. But since when have the drivers made the rules?

Oh that’s right, they don’t.

Nobody involved in Formula 1 wants a repeat of track limits farce during IndyCar’s adventures around the penultimate corner during the race weekend at Circuit of the Americas two years ago.

The large problem is the consistency and inability of the FIA to maintain a firm stance on the topic. Make it black and white.

Verstappen’s pass finished off the track — not allowed. But that part of the track was a legal part of it for over half of the race. If drivers are allowed to run there, why change the rules mid-race?

But another debate is this: did Verstappen run off the track because he was squeezed by the Mercedes?

In typical Formula 1 fashion, it is an entertaining debate.