F1 creates new working group in bid to solve track limits row

The topic of track limits has been a point of contention at the start of the 2021 F1 season, largely due to a number of high-profile infringements made by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Verstappen was forced to give back the lead to Hamilton at the season-opener in Bahrain after he passed the Mercedes driver beyond the white lines at Turn 4 before the Dutchman also lost pole position and the fastest lap bonus point in Portugal for track limits abuse.

The Dutchman called for a “hard-line” rule on track limits ahead of last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix and the matter was discussed by the teams during a meeting in Barcelona.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner - who has been left frustrated by the “brutal” decisions that have gone against his team this season - confirmed a working group is being formed to try and tackle the problem.

“Obviously it wasn't an issue at this track because of the layout,” Horner said after Sunday’s race. “And I think that tells you something, doesn’t it?

“So why wasn’t it an issue here and it is at other venues? It won't be a problem next race and probably not the one after that.

“There's been some healthy discussion, there's a working group being created,” he added.

“We just need to come up with something that’s simple, clear, and understandable for drivers, fans, team, you know, etc. It shouldn't be that difficult.”

Meanwhile, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto called for a “simpler” solution to the issue.

“I think what we need to do is something simpler for fans about track limits,” he explained. “At the end of the race or during the race, it is never good for the show.

“I don't think taking full freedom, whatever it is you take advantage of whatever the case may be.

“So keep it simple, I think about what's effective or not. So I see my from my side, I see other simple solutions that would be the best.”

However, McLaren’s Andreas Seidl warned there would be “millions of infringements" if F1 tried to police track limits at every corner using the white lines, adding he believes there is “no short-term solution available”.

F1 race director Michael Masi said “ideally we would love to have a hard limit everywhere” but warned that a ‘one size fits all' solution is difficult to achieve given the variety of circuits the championship visits across the season.

“The facts are with the circuits that it’s been an ongoing evolution process,” he explained.

“There’s some places that are track limit issues one year, aren’t the next and vice-versa. So it’s an ongoing evolution that we’re working together with each of the circuits. Obviously it requires significant investment from them from that perspective.

“In one sense it would be lovely to have walls everywhere, as we’ll see in a couple of weeks time in Monaco or in Baku. But obviously we’re racing at different types of circuits all the time, when we look at everything from a safety perspective, we need to find the best balance of everything in each and every situation. And each corner’s different, each circuit’s different.”