Masi gets tough on Silverstone track limits

Jamie Woodhouse
Silverstone PA

Silverstone eligible for £6m government loan.

FIA race director Michael Masi has revealed the updated track limits which drivers must abide by at Silverstone for the British GP.

The enforcement of track limits in Formula 1’s past has been seen as inconsistent at times, but in the opening three races of 2020 Masi has been consistently strict with drivers for making the track a little too wide for his liking to gain an advantage.

And that will continue for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone with drivers not permitted to go behind the black and white kerbs on the exits of Turns 9 and 15.

Doing so will mean that lap times will be deleted, and drivers face an official warning if they don’t get the message.

“A lap time achieved during any practice session or the race by leaving the track and cutting behind the black and white kerb on the exit of Turn 9/15, will result in that lap time being invalidated by the stewards,” he said in his pre-event notes as reported by Autosport.

“Each time any car passes behind the black and white exit kerbs, teams will be informed via the official messaging system.

“On the third occasion of a driver cutting behind the black and white exit kerbs at Turns 9 and 15 during the race, he will be shown a black and white flag, any further cutting will then be reported to the stewards.

“For the avoidance of doubt this means a total of three occasions combined not three at each corner.

“The above requirements will not automatically apply to any driver who is judged to have been forced off the track, each such case will be judged individually.”

The timing loop system used at the Red Bull Ring worked as planned and was then fine tuned ahead of the second race weekend, so Silverstone will present another opportunity for that with the British and 70th Anniversary GPs taking place there on back-to-back weekends.

“It’s probably seen as a lot of deletions, but there probably weren’t as many as we expected, to be quite honest,” he said.

“The timing loop that we had at Turn 9 worked extremely well, we’re fine tuning the one at Turn 10 to help us a little bit better for next weekend, and the advantage of having two events at the same circuit is that we can get that done immediately.

“Overall, we’re very happy with the way both Turns 9 and 10 worked. And the proof was in the pudding.”

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