Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has called for more consistency and common sense when it comes to tackling the vexed issue of enforcing track limits in Formula One.
"I think the problem is that you can’t take it corner by corner," said Horner, who was himself a racing driver in the 1990s competing in the British Formula Renault Championship, British Formula Three, British Formula Two and Formula 3000 where he co-founded the Arden team.
The issue of track limits has become more acute as natural hazards such as barriers, grass and gravel have been removed for safety reasons and replaced with options that allow drivers to run wide without consequence and gain an advantage as a result.
Race officials have attempted to tackle the problem by handing out time penalties to drivers for repeatedly exceeding track limits, and have tried incorporating electronic sensors on the track to spot infringements. However the inconsistent placement of the sensors, and the fact that only certain corners are monitored, has led to growing confusion and annoyance in the paddock.
"My frustration is come up with something that’s simple, and there’s a white line that goes all the way around the circuit, so one very easy way of dealing with it is that, if you have all four wheels over that line, you’re out.
"In other sports it seems to work, be it with a ball or a foot or whatever it may be, but there’s a reluctance to have done that [in Formula One], which is fair enough.
"[But] if there’s a reluctance to do that, then you have got to allow the drivers to use what’s there rather than saying you can have one rule for turn one and another for turn 17.
"That’s too confusing for us within the paddock, let alone for the fans.
"To say ‘oh, he’s a bit out there but he’s a bit more out there’… that for me isn’t clear and we need to move away from [it], so come up with something simple or let them do what they like."
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