Austria

[Monty]

Most F1 tracks are suitable for bikes, tin tops, endurance cars etc. and yet impose enough jeopardy to make sure track limit violations are rare (very rare). Austria is a joke, particularly corners 3, 9 and 10 where drivers are trying to ‘pinch’ every millimetre and the cars are naturally drifting, but the ‘track’ is defined by white lines with nothing to physically force the driver to keep ‘on track’. Of course drivers could take the corners slower and keep within the white lines (3 of them did) but trying to keep four massive tyres on the right side of a 100mm white line while trying to save every 1000th of a second lap after lap is almost impossible - hence the ridiculous penalties. Kerbs and gravel traps work at most other tracks for all race series. Clearly something has to be done at Austria and even the stewards have suggested more gravel in their report of the penalties

[Andy B]

Didn't watch the race, yet again - I am finding it harder and harder to commit my weekend to F1 races just to watch MV run away with it to the extent that he can dive into the pits to get the fastest lap.  Fair play to Red Bull for designing a beast of a car around Max, but this is killing the sport. And now they give him extra points with the sprint race.  What's the point in a season of such utter domination by one driver? I don't ever remember that happening in the 40 odd years I've been following F1. Lewis had serious competition with Nico, who won the championship while partnering Lewis. Bottas was never a threat but usually managed to put some pressure on Lewis in the first half. Schumacher at Ferrari was dominant, but he rarely won more than half the races. McLaren in '88 were utterly dominant, but it remains one of the best seasons of all time as they had the two best drivers racing for them...  This is not what sport should be about.

As for the track limits, I read in the news that there were over 1200 potential infringements and Turns 9 and 10 could not be monitored at all. Maybe disqualify the whole lot?

My feelings too!

The answer is surely to alter the circuits were theres problems as they only exceed track limits for the benefit of the gains it gives them. If a wall was there they would stay away from it if gravel was there they would avoid it also change the kerbs so they stay off them making the corner there corner it is supposed to be and a bumpy straight line.

[lkjohnson1950]

The tried massive curbs in the past, curbs big enough to break cars and the drivers still drove over them and broke their cars. If you're flat out, seeking every thousandth of a second you can find, I don't think you are 100% in control of your car. The easiest solution here would be to move the track limits. Make the turns officially a little wider. Or stiffen the penalty, four breaches and you're DQed.

[rmassart]

The tried massive curbs in the past, curbs big enough to break cars and the drivers still drove over them and broke their cars.

And this is a problem, why? It's part of the risk of motor racing. Push to the limits and risk braking down, or stay within the limits and keep going.

Apparently it was Fangio who said "To finish first, you must first finish". He won 5 titles, so knows a thing or two about motor racing in a period where finishing was not guaranteed very much.

[cosworth151]

In any case, there should be a "statute of limitations" of some kind that the final standings can't be changed after a certain time, like maybe the podium ceremonies.

[lkjohnson1950]

The tried massive curbs in the past, curbs big enough to break cars and the drivers still drove over them and broke their cars.

And this is a problem, why? It's part of the risk of motor racing. Push to the limits and risk braking down, or stay within the limits and keep going.

Apparently it was Fangio who said "To finish first, you must first finish". He won 5 titles, so knows a thing or two about motor racing in a period where finishing was not guaranteed very much.

The teams started complaining loudly that it was expensive, and there was likely to be a high number of DNFs. The curbs were eventually removed because they were too dangerous for motorcycle racing.

[Andy B]

How about putting those plastic posts in the bends and if you touch it 10 seconds is added if you do it twice a 10 second stop go.
I bet they would rarely touch any of them!

[lkjohnson1950]

They used plastic posts at the Nürburgring I think, quite a long time ago. Drivers ran over them, complained and they were removed. Don't remember if the cars broke or the posts did. 

[rmassart]

The teams started complaining loudly that it was expensive.

The budget cap will take care of this. It's no longer expensive, just means you can't invest in research because you're fixing your car. These drivers are the best in the world, if they are instructed to keep the car off the curbs because it's costing the team too much, I'm sure they will. Especially if you link the resulting damage to their wage package 

[Alianora La Canta]

How about putting those plastic posts in the bends and if you touch it 10 seconds is added if you do it twice a 10 second stop go.
I bet they would rarely touch any of them!

They would touch them enough for them to get removed on safety grounds. Possibly even before the first practise session.

I like a system where if it detects 4 wheel hubs went over the line (I say wheel hubs because, unlike the outer limits of the car, it's actually possible to install the sensor where the hub joins the suspension), you get a "ping" and 4 pings means a penalty unless extenuating circumstances can be seen by the stewards.

It's worth pointing out that at least 4 drivers (the Aston Martins, Charles Leclerc and Logan Sargeant, the latter simply had the worst timing possible for his breaches) only went over the boundary 5 or fewer times across the weekend, despite the weekend having 5 sessions. It's not as difficult as the other 16 drivers made out to be (I excuse Hulkenberg as it's very difficult to drive round a corner correctly if one's car has stopped functioning).