I mean, the thing they can do in real time is not routinely go off the track. And if that means fucking up a lap and going slow, then that driver has to accept that they can’t drive quite as fast on this track. If they want to build a new track that’s a couple feet wider on a few corners, go for it - but it wouldn’t be the Redbull Ring. Here, in Austria, you have to go at a speed at which you can stay in between the white lines. Some managed it. No sympathy for those who didn’t, it’s either a choice or a skill issue, neither of which I mind penalising.
gravel traps are dangerous. They tend to flip over cars if they go sideways into them at a higher speed. Also you have to consider that the RB-Ring also hosts motorcycle races, where gravel traps pose a significant dranger even when just going wide. Also also cars tend to bring back gravel onto the track when making it out of gravel traps, which often require safety cars and disrupting the race.
grass is a bit better, but has it’s own set of problems. It’s expensive to maintain, and it gets slippery when wet, so it can’t stop an out of control car in the rain. My favourite solution would be to have a strip of grass about a cars width right next to the track, followed by an astroturf runoff.
I mean, the thing they can do in real time is not routinely go off the track. And if that means fucking up a lap and going slow, then that driver has to accept that they can’t drive quite as fast on this track. If they want to build a new track that’s a couple feet wider on a few corners, go for it - but it wouldn’t be the Redbull Ring. Here, in Austria, you have to go at a speed at which you can stay in between the white lines. Some managed it. No sympathy for those who didn’t, it’s either a choice or a skill issue, neither of which I mind penalising.
Could they just put a gravel trap there instead of a run-off area?
gravel traps are dangerous. They tend to flip over cars if they go sideways into them at a higher speed. Also you have to consider that the RB-Ring also hosts motorcycle races, where gravel traps pose a significant dranger even when just going wide. Also also cars tend to bring back gravel onto the track when making it out of gravel traps, which often require safety cars and disrupting the race.
Fair point, maybe grass (or some kind of carbon fibre F1-spec AstroTurf!) or something else that provides worse grip without the danger?
grass is a bit better, but has it’s own set of problems. It’s expensive to maintain, and it gets slippery when wet, so it can’t stop an out of control car in the rain. My favourite solution would be to have a strip of grass about a cars width right next to the track, followed by an astroturf runoff.