For Andrea Stella, there is no interest in pursuing teams for track limits in Austin

The United States Grand Prix was the scene of many debates about the FIA rules. Track limits were often discussed, eliminations of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton… The 2023 edition did not leave the Formula 1 world unaffected.

At the end of the race, several discussions took place regarding track limit violations during Sunday’s race. Five drivers were at the center of these debates. Ultimately, none of them were penalized with a time penalty. However, on Saturday during the Brazilian weekend, the German media Auto Motor Und Sport revealed that the Haas team had submitted a request for a review of these “infractions” highlighted by the team.

Working on new boundaries

Haas is acting within its rights and has the possibility to request this review of the situation. The American team believes that the onboard footage is admissible and indicates that Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon, and Logan Sargeant have committed multiple infractions that should have resulted in time penalties for them. Andrea Stella, McLaren’s director, is not involved in this matter; however, he believes that it would not be fair to impose a retroactive penalty. Moreover, drivers have the right to three warnings before being penalized, which was not the case.

« During the race, you are occupied with many things,” said Stella in a press conference. « The only thing we paid attention to were the updates from the race management regarding the removal of lap times, as those are the official feedback you receive and that’s what matters. Then, you adjust your driving, you adjust the way you push the race, you adapt your strategy with the information you have.”

“I think it doesn’t make any sense to look back in hindsight, because if you had the information, all the competitors could have adjusted what they have done,” said the McLaren team boss. “So it’s definitely not something you can act upon in hindsight, as it affects what you experience. So in my opinion, Haas has the right to ask for that. But I think what we need to work on is simply a more robust way of determining the track limits and controlling them.”

The drivers of the same opinion

The trend is the same among drivers. Logan Sargeant, who is affected by these track limits, admits not understanding why Haas insists so much. « It’s a bit ridiculous to be honest », explained the American driver. « If they don’t monitor the race and aren’t able to tell us that we’re going out there, then to be honest, it’s not our fault, in my opinion. »

Initially, the FIA did not impose any penalties on the drivers due to insufficient evidence to determine the offenses.