2013 Belgian GP - Spa

[gary123]

If we or the FIA interprets the infraction according to the rules that would be a penalty, no matter if he loses time, for the same thing Romain had a penalty last race.

[ringo]

Isn't the rule at least one wheel?
He may have had his rear wheel on the track.
Anyhow he didn't gain much there, with quite a number of drivers doing the exact same thing.

[gray41]

The biggest problem if they were to look at the footage of every car from every session, you could guarantee at least 50% of the grid would be in for a penalty.

[simieski]

Isn't the rule at least one wheel?
He may have had his rear wheel on the track.
Anyhow he didn't gain much there, with quite a number of drivers doing the exact same thing.

There's enough unknowns and guesswork as it is, let's not add to the list things the Fia defines in readily available documentation. So from the sporting regs:

20.2 Drivers must use the track at all times. For the avoidance of doubt the white lines defining the track edges are considered to be part of the track but the kerbs are not.
A driver will be judged to have left the track if no part of the car remains in contact with the track.
Should a car leave the track the driver may rejoin, however, this may only be done when it is safe to do so and without gaining any advantage.
A driver may not deliberately leave the track without justifiable reason.

If pulled up on it by the stewards I dare say less grip than expected on a damp track would fall within the bounds of a justifiable reason. But typically this isn't something the Fia seem to concern themselves with in qualy, or even the race, unless another competitor is involved.

[dave34m]

It does seem a rather minor error compared to the way most drivers were exiting turn 9 during free practise but rules are rules and they should be strict on them. I wonder who had the fastest legal lap

[beelsebob]

The rule of the 4 wheel of the track was made after hockenheim

No, it wasn't. That rule has been on the books basically since forever. For reference, the 1999 sporting regulations are the earliest I can quickly find, and they have the exact same rule phrased in the exact same way.

I'm sure the stewards will have noticed it, and considered that it was such a minor incident that they don't need to consider any penalty.

[dr. chaosGP]

As mentioned earlier, cars have been going off track with four wheels all weekend, much more so than Grosjean did in Hungary. What I find surprising is that no clarification on this issue has been send out.

At least the stewards of Charlie could say whether it is ok or not. Otherwise discussions on this will go on all weekend long.

If it has been fine to go off track up until now, I cannot see how the stewards could penalize following the very same line on race day. This in turn would be unfair to Grosjean, unless a clear guideline would be made public (assuming they decide not to follow the rules very strictly, as they haven't done up until now). So why do they keep quiet?

[tranquility2k4]

Anyone know what tires are left for tomorrow for the teams, how many fresh inters? I assume everyone's good for both types of dry tires.

nobody appears to have any fresh inters in the top ten at least

Mercedes have a fresh set of inters - they only ran one set in Q1, did several slow laps and then put in a fast lap at the end of the session - it looked promising for them keeping the inters alive in the race. But this means they only used that set and another at end of Q3. All other top 10 runners used two sets in Q1, as they pitted for a new set and then would have used a third set in Q3. Merc have a potential advantage there.

[Tim.Wright]

[rant]
This discussion of people leaving the track crops up all the time and is getting very tiring. It all stems from this stupid trend of putting tarmac runoff everywhere. There is no penalty for leaving the track and there is no incentive to stay on the track. The powers that be need to either:

A. Start enforcing the rule with no exceptions (at which point they will realise they will be penalising half of the grid every race)
OR
B. Put barriers at the apex and exit of the offending corners so the cars get smashed to bits if they try to transgress.

I'm serious on that. don't winge to me about safety. Players get injured every week in football, rugby etc etc. Why should F1 be an exception.

At the moment, if an F1 driver takes a hit like this, rendering him unable to function for a few seconds, they call an FIA world council meeting to decide how many more pillows can they strap to the side of the cars.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mry7tzYXps[/youtube]

In any other sport the player is expected to either get up and keep playing or be removed on a stretcher.

[/rant]

[turbof1]

Not all of them. In soccer for instance the players aren't allowed back on the field if they even have the slightest visible blood on them.

[Tim.Wright]

Not all of them. In soccer for instance the players aren't allowed back on the field if they even have the slightest visible blood on them.

That's completely beside the point. The point is that in other sports, when somone is injured, they don't (normally) change the field and the rules to avoid the injury. They simply accept that injuries are part of the game.

For example, if we pick another corner which is not so high speed and we put tyres at the corner exit instea of tarmac runoff there will be an increase in the number of accidents for sure. But I'd bet my house there won't be any injuries and certinly no deaths.

What I'm saying is that there is room to move in terms of track safety (because the cars are so safe) and that these continuous arguments of "zomgg driver X cut the track" would go away if there was a physical deterrant to the drivers against leaving the track.

[turbof1]

That's completely beside the point.

Of course it was besides the point; the discussion about it is getting rediculous, so I'm not taking it seriously anymore .

[raymondu999]

There is a loophole on corner cutting which some people don't realize. The way the rule is written, if your outside front tyre hits the track before the rear outside tyre leaves, you're squeaky clean.

In terms of a physical deterrent, I'd like to quote Ciro...

I've talked with someone who those of you who've been here a while should remember.

Here's what he had to say:

There is a solution, Tif, and you must have seen it, because you have read my very short and concise posts (oh, the good times you must have spent on them!) on circuits:

Paul Ricard abrasive stripes


As everybody, including young Adam, knows, the blue abrasive stripes damage your tyres forcing you to pit, the red ones disable the tyres and put you out of the race. Both types allow you to brake and recover if heading for the barriers. I have no idea what the white ones are for.

I wouldn't call FIA accomplices, I would call them cheap. Besides, if you ask me, the track looks cool.

Thread - http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... =1&t=13195

[Tim.Wright]

That's completely beside the point.

Of course it was besides the point; the discussion about it is getting rediculous, so I'm not taking it seriously anymore .

I thought I raised a pretty valid point regarding the sporting rules and the track design. Maybe its a discussion better suited for another thread.

[SectorOne]

* subject to change obviously.

This looks like Inter-weather. Will be interesting to see how they solve that if it´s just a little bit of drizzle during the whole race.