Kevin Magnussen, Haas, Monza, 2022

Enforcing track limits at Lesmo 2 “silly and unnecessary” – Magnussen

2022 Italian Grand Prix

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Kevin Magnussen criticised the stewards’ decision to enforce track limits at Monza’s Lesmo 2 corner after he failed to make the cut for Q2 when his quickest lap time was deleted.

The Haas driver lost two lap times in Q1 for running wide at the seventh corner on the track, which is bordered by a wide, flat kerb and a gravel trap. The space between the white line marking the edge of the track and the beginning of the gravel trap is just wide enough for drivers to fall foul of track limits.

“It’s annoying,” Magnussen said in response to a question from RaceFans after qualifying. “I feel like it’s very unnecessary with these track limit things when you have a corner [where], on the exit, the track limit is very naturally defined, like in turn seven where I got my lap time deleted.

“There is that double kerb and at the edge of that there’s a big drop and if you go over that you really lose a lot of lap time. So there’s a very natural track limit, which is how it should be.

“But if you go to that edge, then you’re inside by a couple of centimetres and then they delete your lap time, which I just think is silly and unnecessary.”

Magnussen sees no point in enforcing track limits at corners which are bordered by gravel traps.

“In corners that have a very natural track limit that stops you from going over, I think there’s no reason to police,” he said. “Nobody cares if you’re out by a few centimetres, you can’t see that on television. It looks like you’re just going right on the limit.

“I agree on corners where [the run-off is] flat and you can go out, then we need to police it. But in those corners you’re very aware because you know you can go so far out so you’re always a little more aware and alert trying to be within the track.

“Whereas corners that have this natural one, you tend to just kind of feel more free to push because you can feel in the car where you are. On white lines and painted track, you can’t feel anything, here you can feel when you go onto that double kerb.”

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2022 Italian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...
Claire Cottingham
Claire has worked in motorsport for much of her career, covering a broad mix of championships including Formula One, Formula E, the BTCC, British...

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17 comments on “Enforcing track limits at Lesmo 2 “silly and unnecessary” – Magnussen”

  1. Keep it on the track, Kev. It’s not rocket surgery.

  2. I think he is right. F1 is overthinking again.

  3. As he is pointing out Lesmo 2 has a very natural limit, where if you go over that point at best you are losing lap time at worst spinning the car so why bother making up track artificial track limits?

  4. BLS (@brightlampshade)
    11th September 2022, 10:05

    Kevin should know better, F1 is a sport where they police track limits at some corners some of the time.

    The fact it’s 2022 and they still can’t cover this ongoing problem in the sport is mind boggling.

  5. It’s all well and good that exceeding the track limits makes you slower – but it’s totally beside the point.
    The track is defined by the white lines – not the stopwatch.

    1. Yes, the track is defined by those white lines. Still, I don’t see a reason not to question that logic, at least when there are valid arguments to consider. It is the way it is only because someone had decided so, it’s not a dogma though. I’ve no opinion at the moment, but generally speaking I dislike having rules for the sake of having rules, they should always be justified and necessary. If they can be improved, they should always be improved. In this case I’ve yet to understand why should something be penalized, if it is harmless to everyone but the driver in question. If a mistake itself is punishment enough, without affecting other drivers, then perhaps there’s no need for further action.

  6. Nah I disagree with him. They set a rule and are enforcing it – if you go over the white line on the exit of a corner, it’s a penalty. What he’s asking for is that they enforce the rules sometimes but not others if going wide is a disadvantage (which is kind of how they used to be policed.)

    It shouldn’t matter if there’s grass or gravel or asphalt or a wall on the exit – there’s also always a white line and that’s the limit of the track.

  7. What K-Mag pointed out is something I’ve also pointed out.
    Invalidating a lap time when going off is automatically slower than staying on track is redundant.
    However, I’ve got used to this season’s general all-in approach, so this aspect bothers me less than in the early-season phase.

  8. Self-serving nonsense is self-serving.

  9. It’s amazing how many people here don’t understand or don’t want to understand KMag’s point, which is completely logical. Instead, people take refuge in the status quo. There’s nothing easier than to defend the status quo.

    1. The status quo for several years was arbitrary track limits. The change was to have a black and white track limit. What he is stating is to have arbitrary track-based limits again. Thus, his point is illogical as it opens a can of worms again based on run-offs and gravel traps.

    2. There used to be all sorts of nonsense regarding track violations, the new strictness of the rules is refreshing.

  10. Driver breaks rule – says rule is wrong – I am shocked, Shocked I tell you!

  11. I assume the driver was probably clearly briefed about the track limit, and thus had prior warning. Hence, from a sporting perspective same for everyone and he just pushed too hard, didnt care, or didnt listen.
    Still, allowing for the probabilty he is aware of all of the above, and simply wants to raise an issue which I think is inline with his prior positions about Formula 1: There’s already too many rules, and not enough raw racing, and this particular case is over-policing a location which has a natural limit. In the latter case, I agree with him it should probably be removed for next years race.

  12. I agree with him that there is a natural limit and that enforcing track limits isn’t as necessary there as in other places where there is no penalty at all for running very wide. However I also think that it’s correct for them to be enforcing track limits there because as i’ve said all year I like having the consistency of the white line been defined as the track limit at every corner on every track.

    What I would like to see them do is bring the gravel forward so that the kerb isn’t wider than the cars. I think the way it’s handled on the exits of the 1st/2nd chicanes is perfect & that the kerb/gravel setup should be the same at both Lesmo’s & Parabolica. Having kerbs that are wider than the cars almost makes having the gravel a bit pointless.

  13. “Track limits” where there are natural limits are ridiculously foolish. It’s so exciting to see a car at a real limit, kissing the gravel on a qualy lap. There’s nothing exciting about seeing drivers merely keeping it between the lines. That’s just the way it has to be at some circuits but for god sake, where there are natural limits like this, let them be the limit.

  14. How many track limit warnings were there in Zandvoort? Oh there were none because no one bothered to police a line. Did you dip a wheel in the grass? You didn’t crash out? Seems you got lucky then, on you go..
    Refreshingly simple. Refreshingly old school.

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