Last year, frequent excursions off the track nearly ruined the Austrian weekend. There were so many violations that the racers had to compete not on speed, but on accuracy.
As a result, a scandal broke out, the riders were fined 83 times, some more than others, and protests began to pour in. As a result, the FIA analysed 1,200 possible violations and was forced to take action.
These measures included gravel traps in the final two corners. FIA race director Nils Wittich said the decision was ideal because going to gravel would slow the driver down, who would “punish himself”. But Yuki Tsunoda believes that is not entirely true.
Yuki Tsunoda: “The solution is not bad, I hope the result will not be similar to what we see in the second chicane of Monza, where gravel flies onto the track, can damage the underbody of another car and cause a puncture. Yes, in Monza the speeds are much higher, but here it may not happen. But if it does happen, it will be quite difficult to avoid gravel.
This could also disrupt qualifying if someone drives into the gravel and throws it onto the track in the final minutes when everyone is doing their final laps, and race control simply doesn’t have time to stop the session and clear the asphalt.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
