Schumacher wants ‘less complicated way’ to police F1 track limits

The Haas driver looked to have sealed progression into Q2 but had his lap time deleted after replays showed he had cut Turn 3. 

That dropped Schumacher back into the danger zone and he was subsequently eliminated in the first segment of qualifying in 19th place. 

Track limits have been a major talking point after 43 offences were recorded over the course of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, with drivers branding the way the matter is policed as “a joke”. 

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez was demoted nine places after a post-qualifying investigation found him guilty of breaching track limits in Austria. 

“Was it fine that Checo lost his lap at the Red Bull Ring? Most drivers would say no,” Schumacher said after qualifying.

“In that case, at the end there’s also a rule, and the rule is there for everybody. Unfortunately I exceeded it but it’s definitely something they will have to talk about to see if we can maybe find a less complicated way, maybe something which gives a bit more room. 

“If there’s a bollard, and the bollard flies away, that’s a track limit infringement. But in that case, the bollard was still there.” 

Asked if he finds it strange that track limits were only flagged during qualifying and not practice, Schumacher responded: “I think it would be good to know through free practice. 

“Nobody told me, I was doing the exact same line through practice one, two and three. And the fact that then, because of that, my lap was deleted in qualifying. 

“Maybe it would be good to have a heads up, say ‘hey, that won’t be allowed in qualifying’. Then it’s good, you know what you’re allowed to do and what not. 

“In my case, I was really quite confident it would be OK to do what I did.”