Juuso Taipale
Let the drivers drive where they can, writes Iltalehti’s F1 editor Juuso Taipale.
On the edge. Would Max Verstappen have driven any harder if the car had been a couple of centimeters more to the left? EPA / AOP
– Useless tickling. F1 drivers are professionals, they have to know how to drive according to the rules.
This counter-argument is repeated whenever criticism is brought up about the stupid rules of the F1 series, the most infuriating of all. Artificial control of track boundaries.
Totally tiring. I don’t know what kind of comma filer gets satisfaction from faulting driving lines with a millimeter scale.
It’s time to get rid of the current culture that blames track limits completely from the F1 series. If the tracks are not changed to prevent wrong driving lines, then they must be allowed.
The rail border debate bubbles up year after year in Austria. The last corner of the Red Bull Ring is driven through the fastest by steering the car along the outer line of the track.
Going a centimeter wide doesn’t bring any benefit in practice, but results in rejection. Of course, after much deliberation by the jury. It’s a bit of a joke from time to time, when the Leaderboard takes shape again minutes after the rounds.
Of course, the track limits must be monitored, so that the drivers do not turn corners into straights. But in this case it’s about the outer line, i.e. the space after the bend. Drivers are actually making a longer run when they dump their cars in the area now prohibited by the rules.
Rules are rules. And the same for everyone. So what’s the problem?
How stupid it feels to make accurate excuses for line breakers.
The current tracks are built in such a way that they are downright tempting to use wide lanes. So if you don’t want wide runs, the tracks should be changed. A thin strip of sand or grass on the outside corner would be the perfect remedy.
If the tracks cannot be changed, wide runs should be allowed. Racing wouldn’t suffer from that. Or does someone claim that the two-centimeter wider driving line in the last corner of the Red Bull Ring is a revolutionizing reform of the entire series?
Max Verstappen criticized the rule during qualifying. After that, he put the drivers’ thoughts into words.
– We don’t make corners wide on purpose. At these speeds it’s just impossible to judge where the white line goes. This completely takes the fun out of driving.
And not just from the drivers, Max-good. We F1 fans are also extremely numb.
Verstappen doesn’t like the track limit rule. EPA / AOP