Spa - speedbumps

[flat out]

Hello, I am new here, but I've read along for quite a while. I'm annoyed by cars leaving the track and having an advantage. Unfortunately most F1 tracks nowadays have tarmaced run-off areas. Instead of enjoying the races, one has to listen to drivers complaining about their opponents having advantages leaving the track with all four wheels like all the time. Alonso vs. Vettel in Silverstone last year is the best example. Then in some cases the stewards interfere and penalize drivers, in some cases they don't. Come on, this is just ridiculous.
I don't get why nobody has ever come up with my solution:
Gravel traps are good when you go off forwards or rearwards, they offer a nice breaking effect. Going into the gravel sideways is dangerous because especially touring cars tend to flip over. Schumacher once criticized gravel traps after his Australia FP crash in 2001 when he went into the gravel sideways and flipped. Also in the case of Ralph Firman's crash in Hungary in 2003 it was obvious that the gravel trap makes the car go airbourne and with no wheels attached to the ground, a car barely decelerates.
I am also sick of the discussion whether F1 cars nowadays are too easy to drive, because I don't really think they are. Of course they do not tend to slide as much as in the 70s and 80s due to the increase of downforce and aerodynamical stability, but it is still a ride on a canon ball.
What nobody really considers is that the tracks forgive so many mistakes with their tarmaced run-offs, that small mistakes that we still see in quite a big amount do not end in tyre barriers or in the gravel.
Why don't they just put kerbs and a carpet on the out- and inside of corners that are as wide as most racing cars as we have it now, but then followed by a four-meter-wide stripe of gravel, this followed by a tarmaced run-off area and the tyre wall?? There's no problem in flipping over for me and the tarmac helps the cars to decelerate before the impact, but a driver leaving the track with all fours is penalized in a heavier manner.
I DO think that this could be a good solution and moreover it demands more "balls" from the drivers again. Nobody would be complaining about the cars beeing too easy to drive anymore if the youngsters rip off their underfloors everytime going off the track.
Corners like copse, eau rouge, 130R, Nordkurve in Hockenheim and many others would demand more respect and fear drivers again.
But the stuff with bumps and such things is just absolutely dangerous in these corners. I am with you as you say that drivers should think twice cutting eau rouge or driving the corner correctly, but this is the wrong way. This is what will happen and it is insanity:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TCGwNeVWbY

I'm afraid in a couple of years we will have tracks in the dubai desert that are build on a 5km² area of tarmac, the track limits just painted on with white stripes.

[Moose]

This really is very simple. There's two ways to penalise someone who runs wide:
1) Lower the grip level
2) Add something likely to damage the car/beach the car

The reason why neither of these is used is because both of these are more dangerous than doing nothing. By lowering the grip level you make it highly likely the car will end up in the barrier. By adding something likely to damage/beach the car you introduce flips and jumps that injure the driver, and take the tires off the road - again making it likely the car will be in the barrier only higher up.

If someone can come up with a solution that does not increase the likelihood of a car being in a barrier, but does penalise drivers for running wide, then I'm sure the FIA will adopt it in a flash, but so far, no one has that solution.

[mertol]

Put sensors on the track, then every off-track detected penalises the driver with 1 kg of fuel

[flat out]

Or put sensors on the outside of the white line, if somebody crosses them, give 'em an electrical shock. FIA tested this in Barcelona, day four

No disrespect, just black humor, hope to see Alonso in the car in Malaysia

[adrianjordan]

They need to add these things in canada near the pit area (wall of champions) where rosberg last year thundered across

Agree 100%

[henra]

why is it bad? it penalizes drivers cutting the corner making them actually use the track.

Yeah, I agree that leaving track limits to gain an advantage should be penailzed yet I'm not quite convinced it warrants Death Penalty?

[MadMatt]

I think this could lead to a dramatic situation where a car gets airborne and fly over the tyre wall with consequences you can imagine. I think they should just put grass here and end that story.

[Moose]

I'm pretty confident when we get to the F1 race, those kerbs will have been removed.

[wesley123]

Don't know why they thought that was a good idea. Spinning over them will give some wicked airtime. Plus, I'm certain Bottas' lower back will love that bump as well!

To prevent corner cutting doesn't really work here, since you'll hit the bumps before you're over the track limits with more than 2 wheels, thus, even before you are actually cutting the corner.

But since we're at it, maybe give out championship points to the driver that had the best airtime over the course of the weekend? Sounds like a great way to add some spectacle!

[Carmack]

In these kind of debates,I'm in for a solution that messes with your tires, a form of abrasive run-off area from Circuit Paul RIcard (I think) that eats up the tires. In the current formula, eaten tyres are a pretty harsh penalty...

[Vettel Maggot]

Hmmmmm that was caused by those sausage kerbs, so not as severe as the curbs in the pictures of Eau Rouge, not sure that they are a great idea for open wheelers.

They run sensors in the track in V8 Supercar races and GT races that void quali laps and give you 2-3 strikes in a race before a pit lane penalty, surely this is a better idea?

[Manoah2u]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv0hQijEG9M

Hmmmmm that was caused by those sausage kerbs, so not as severe as the curbs in the pictures of Eau Rouge, not sure that they are a great idea for open wheelers.

They run sensors in the track in V8 Supercar races and GT races that void quali laps and give you 2-3 strikes in a race before a pit lane penalty, surely this is a better idea?

wow, that one went flying high

[RicME85]

Use spike strips like the police use to deflate tires

[pimpwerx]

I learned last year that Eau Rouge is actually the stream that's crossed at the bottom of the hill. The left might still carry that name, but the official name of the sweeping right that cranks up the hill is Raidillon, or "steep slope".

Not being a nitpicker, just thought I'd share. I've started referring to is as Raidillon since learning that fact. I love that circuit. PEACE.

[SiLo]

For a few years it was a completely different layout and had a different name: