During a grand prix, the penalty system works a little differently. The first two times that a driver runs off track, the FIA and race control will notify their team with information on when and where they went off track — which is then relayed via the race engineer back to the driver as soon as possible. This gives them the opportunity to avoid making the same mistake again and receiving a penalty.

But on their third violation, they will be shown a black-and-white flag — which acts as their final warning. On the fourth infringement, they will then receive a 5-second time penalty and on the fifth, they will receive a 10-second time penalty. These penalties are either taken at their next pitstop or added on at the end of the race.

This system will then repeat for every subsequent violation of track limits. For example at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon received 30 seconds worth of time penalties after breaching track limits on 10 separate occasions.

Track limit controversy 

The most recent crackdown on track limits began after a season of inconsistency in 2021, where they were only enforced at certain corners on certain tracks.

The worst of the controversy arguably came at the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix, after race director Michael Masi had issued revised notes ahead of free practice on Friday stating that during Sunday’s Grand Prix, “the track limits at the exit of Turn 4 will not be monitored with regard to setting a lap time, as the defining limits are the artificial grass and the gravel trap in that location.” As a result, multiple drivers carried more speed through the corner during the race and purposely ran wide — including race-leader Lewis Hamilton, who abused track limits 29 times at Turn 4 before being given an official warning.

But when Max Verstappen committed the same violation when passing the Briton for the lead, he was ordered by race director Micheal Masi to give the place back, as this was considered a lasting advantage. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner later stated that Hamilton’s consistent breaching of the track limits would have given him a 0.2sec advantage per lap.

Masi later added in a post-race press conference that the rules had not been changed mid-race and that there had no special treatment of one driver over another.

“With regard to tolerance given with people running outside of the track limits during the race,” he said, “it was mentioned very clearly in the [drivers’] meeting and the notes that it would not be monitored with regard to setting the lap time so to speak – but it will always be monitored in according with the Sporting Regulations that a lasting advantage overall must not be gained.

In 2022, track limit monitoring became stricter but it often took officials too long to decide which cars had breached track limits and who hadn’t — resulting in lap times being deleted and some even reinstated after sessions had been completed

During qualifying for the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix, Sergio Perez initially breached track limits at Turn 8 in Q2 but stewards decided to investigate the incident after the session. In the meantime, the Mexican competed in Q3 and qualified fourth. But soon after the session had concluded he was later demoted to 13th as he had all his Q3 and his Q2 time deleted. The delayed decision had a domino effect on Perez’s entire weekend, as after using up additional tyres in Q3 meant he was limited when it came to developing a good race strategy.

At the same race the following year, officials handed out 12 penalties to eight different drivers — who were all charged with breaching track limits — several hours after the event had concluded.

Further refinements including the addition of a semi-automated system — which alerts race officials when a car has potentially breached track limits via a static camera — has made the decision-making process much quicker so far in 2024. For example in China, Lando Norris set a lap time quick enough for sprint race pole but had his time deleted for a track limits violation. However, after a short review, the McLaren driver was found to be within the boundaries and had his lap reinstated, allowing him to retain pole.

The current system is still far from perfect. Kevin Magnussen recently showcased just how the current penalties for track limit breaches can be abused, as he consistently skipped and cut corners — and kept faster cars behind him as a result — in order to protect his Haas team-mate Nico Hülkenberg from being overtaken in the Miami GP sprint. The Dane received 35 seconds worth time penalties which later dropped him down the running order, but Hülkenberg still finished in a points scoring place.

A new system

Drivers and team bosses have suggested many different ways for track limit breaches to be more successfully monitored: from lasers mounted on the cars to tried and tested gravel traps. A version of both will be adopted at the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix in an effort to reduce investigation waiting times and avoid a repeat of the confusion that has plagued the event for the last two years.

New AI software will analyse live footage from multiple hotspots around the circuit where track limit breaches are common and flag any potential violations. These can then be acted upon in real-time by track officials. The introduction of a blue line (inside of a white one) at Turns 9 and 10 should also make it easier for the AI to spot when a driver has crossed it.

There will also be two small gravel trap strips (as seen in the photos below), located at the same corners, which will aim to punish those who stray a little too wide. Should a driver make contact with them, they should slow significantly, meaning that there should be no need for further penalties.