FIA relaxes track limits in Austin after 207 lap deletions
FIA race director Rui Marques announced track limit relaxations at the United States Grand Prix after 207 lap times were deleted during practice. Drivers including Alex Albon and Lando Norris faced numerous infractions due to the bumpy Circuit of the Americas surface.
Massive lap deletions in Austin
FIA race director Rui Marques announced track limit relaxations at the United States Grand Prix after 207 lap times were deleted during Friday practice in Austin. The FIA reported 79 track limits violations after Free Practice 1. Another 128 deletions occurred during Free Practice 2. Williams driver Alex Albon suffered the most with 20 infractions, while Lando Norris had 18 laps scrubbed from the history books.
| Driver | FP1 | FP2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albon | 9 | 11 | 20 |
| Norris | 5 | 13 | 18 |
| Hadjar | 4 | 11 | 15 |
| Leclerc | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| Hamilton | 4 | 10 | 14 |
| Bortoleto | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| Antonelli | 4 | 9 | 13 |
| Bearman | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| Hulkenberg | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| Piastri | 1 | 10 | 11 |
| Sainz | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| Russell | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Colapinto | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Gasly | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Stroll | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Alonso | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Lindblad | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Lawson | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Verstappen | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Herta | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Ocon | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Perez | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Bottas | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Officials widened white lines at Turns 12, 15, and 20, and they moved the blue line to ease these limits. Turns 6, 12, 15, 19, and 20 were popular spots for drivers exceeding the permitted track width. At Turn 20, drivers face a double blow because a violation deletes the current lap and the following lap since the corner leads onto the pit straight.
The track surface is unacceptable
The Circuit of The Americas is too bumpy for Formula 1 standards. Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto said the surface is "very harsh" and should not be like this for an F1 standard. The track sits on an unstable clay base that expands when it rains and retracts during dry periods, which causes the tarmac to ripple and move despite the best efforts of the circuit promoter. When the circuit was built, workers scraped the surface to a depth of three metres before laying a layered foundation. Organisers resurfaced the area from the entry of Turn 9 through to the entry of Turn 11 ahead of this year’s race, but they only performed asphalt grinding on the approach to Turn 12 and Turn 19. Drivers still struggle with the unevenness because the ground underneath the soil moves up and down. This makes racing unpredictable.
Max Verstappen revealed that he has undergone spinal scans which show wear and tear after experiencing vertical loads of over 9G on his spine during certain impacts at the circuit throughout the weekend. He noted that cars bottom out harder under braking because the ride height drops when the wings close. He said it is "not really fun" and that the spinal damage is a concern as drivers age. Charles Leclerc called the surface "very poor" and noted the first sector is particularly bumpy. Franco Colapinto said even though he is young, his back already suffers from the vibrations.
Track limit penalties and difficulties
Kimi Antonelli believes the Austin layout causes major headaches due to elevation changes and odd wind in corners. He noted that mistakes like locking up can push a driver wide, which leads to violations. Antonelli said finding the limit in FP3 is necessary to understand how much a driver can push in a corner without doing track limits.
Track limits consist of the white line defining the circuit edge, which also acts as a safety feature. If a driver puts all four wheels over the boundary, they violate the rules. In practice, track limit infractions result in a deleted lap time. In qualifying, a deleted lap can dump a driver out early, and three instances in a race earn a black and white flag. A fourth violation results in a five-second time penalty. Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Ocon were the only drivers to complete both sessions without a single time deletion.
