F1 Track Limits 2021: Lando Norris denied 1st lane start with track limit violation at Imola

F1 Track Limits 2021: Lando Norris denied his maiden first lane start ahead of the Sunday race as he made a track limit violation.

The track limits have annoyed fan, it has already prevented two key events in Formula 1 this season– Lewis Hamilton defeat by Max Verstappen, which could have drawn perfect momentum for Red bull and Lando Norris’ career maiden first lane start.

“Lando Norris is on the front row.. and it’s been deleted due to track limits!” pic.twitter.com/kk8MexVvEr

— Charley Louise (@_charleylouisew) April 17, 2021

The issue with the track limits has been its inconsistency of implementation, with Hamilton exploiting the rule several times in Bahrain before he was finally warned.

However, in Imola, unlike in Bahrain, there was no room for interpretation, and Michael Masi revised his track limit notes for the Imola weekend. From final practice, track limits would no longer be enforced at the apex of Turn 13.

While drivers would be allowed to run across the kerbs at the Varianta Alta chicane, the corners still being monitored are the exits of Turns 9 and 15. Masi’s official notes clarify that offences in any practice session (including qualifying) will see the relevant time deleted.

And, over here, Norris went wrong and ran outside the permitted limit at Chicane, costing him his amazing run on his last flying lap, which could have landed him way above in the grid.

Charles Leclerc faced the same treatment.

On Friday, even Charles Leclerc saw a deletion in his time, with stewards catching him going over the track limits during the free practice session in Imola.

Otherwise, Leclerc had the fastest lap at that moment and could have been a positive point for Ferrari, while their rivals Red Bull and Mercedes are dominating the day in and out.

The efficiency of tracking track limits in Imola was better as the two corner exits are monitored electronically via timing loops. Any offences flagged up are then checked manually on video.

That wasn’t the case at Turn 4 in Bahrain, where it wasn’t possible to employ loops, and two officials monitored TV screens.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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