What FIA stewards ‘got wrong' in the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying track-limits saga

New York Times

13-04-2025

On a weekend where the FIA and its president Mohammed Ben Sulayem are already under intense scrutiny, the Bahrain Grand Prix stewards and race control officials pushed the organization further into the spotlight after a rules mess played out during qualifying.
Track limits have long been a hot topic in Formula One, particularly after the 2023 Austrian GP, where more than 1,200 instances of a driver possibly exceeding track limits were reviewed. Changes were made to better monitor the potential infringements after this saga, including painting blue lines at certain points of the circuits to help highlight track-limits breaches or adding gravel traps to create a natural deterrent to running too wide for the drivers.
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But a delay in the officiating process late in Q1 in Bahrain on Saturday had significant consequences, and not for the driver who triggered another track-limits furor.
Sauber driver Nico Hülkenberg had initially advanced to Q2 by besting Alex Albon by 0.042 seconds. It marked the first time the Williams driver did not advance to Q3 this season, after making three consecutive appearances. And considering the margins for the 'best of the rest' battle in the constructors' championship, which Williams leads, it marked a big moment for Sauber to be in a better position to score points, as it trails Racing Bulls by one point in the standings, several places further back.
But then, during Q3 on Saturday evening, a note came across the F1 timing screens that Hülkenberg's last Q1 lap had been deleted, creating a messy situation that landed with the stewards.
Here's a look at what happened with Sauber and Williams, and an explanation of how track limits are policed, considering Hülkenberg's errant lap was not reported to the stewards until after Q2 had begun.
Exceeding track limits is exactly as it sounds. When all four tires cross the white line marking the edge of the racing surface, drivers are deemed to be off the track.
In doing this at Turn 11 on his final Q1 run in Bahrain, Hülkenberg was found to have breached Appendix L Chapter IV Article 2 c) in the FIA's International Sporting Code (ISC) and had not complied with the Race Director's Event Notes. He was dropped from 13th to 16th in the final qualifying classification, which is where he would've finished had his time been instantly deleted at Q1's end.
The ISC states, 'Drivers must use the track at all times and may not leave the track without a justifiable reason. The white lines defining the track edges are considered part of the track, but the kerbs are not.
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'Any part of a kerb which is contained between the white lines is considered track for the purpose of this article. Should a car leave the track for any reason, the driver may rejoin. However, this may only be done when it is safe to do so and without gaining any lasting advantage.
'A driver will be judged to have left the track if no part of the car remains in contact with the track.'
Meanwhile, the race director's event notes for each race remind the competitors that the stewards will invalidate a lap during qualifying and the race when a driver fails to stay within track limits. Specific changes have been made to the Bahrain International Circuit for this year's grand prix to help spot potential track-limits infringements, with a blue line at several turns adding visual aid to judge such circumstances.
Traditionally, just a white line was present at track edges, but now, a blue one has been added behind the white line at multiple points around the track, such as at the entrance of Turns 4 and 6, as well as 'at the exit of turns 2, 4, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15'. Turn 11 is where Hülkenberg exceeded track limits.
Race control officials review potential infringements with assistance from a remote gallery of officials working at the FIA office in the Swiss city of Geneva, while the race director determines whether to report incidents or suspected regulation breaches to the stewards. It is on the stewards to determine whether the matter is fully investigated and whether any penalty results.
Williams team principal James Vowles expressed to broadcaster SiriusXM that the situation was 'frustrating,' pointing to how tight the grid was in Q1. The 20 drivers were covered by 1.2 seconds at that stage.
While acknowledging Albon didn't have the best lap at the end of Q1, Vowles felt 'it was a top-10 car today', and he likely is right, considering Carlos Sainz qualified the other Williams in eighth.
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'Some of the laps, you can see from the FIA, they were very quick to respond on, and typically their timeline should be seconds after it happens,' Vowles continued. 'Good question on why this one wasn't, because the impact is: brilliant, he's moved behind us, but that's of no bearing to the fact that we're probably six to eight races out of position, and that hasn't been corrected, and it won't be corrected either for tomorrow.
'The FIA have expanded their operations to Geneva, I'm sure that there's a lot that they're having to look at, and in many regards we should be thankful that they looked back at a lap that happened 30 minutes prior. But we need to understand from them what can be done better in this circumstance, because the impact isn't one position anymore, it's quite significant.'
According to the stewards' document regarding Hülkenberg's deleted lap time in Q1, the matter 'was not reported to the stewards until Q2 had commenced'. It also concerned a lap that had advanced a driver into Q2 and was deleted — a rare occurrence.
The stewards acknowledged that it 'is an unusual situation', as the Sauber driver was already on track in Q2 when they started assessing the corner in question from his final Q1 lap, and they settled the issue 'by exercising their authority under Article 11.9.2.a of the FIA International Sporting Code'. This ISC article states, 'They (the stewards) may settle any matter which might arise during an event, subject to the right of appeal provided for in the Code.'
As for how the lap was brought to race control's attention, it wasn't Williams that notified the FIA.
Vowles said his team did watch Hülkenberg's lap and described it as 'marginal' to SiriusXM, adding, 'The reality part is we don't swamp the FIA with messages, because to do so would make their life more difficult. We trust that they are going through the process as we were, and the situation.'
In a statement issued three hours after qualifying had finished, the governing body admitted it got this situation wrong.
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According to the FIA, only a few hot spots for track limits 'are monitored continuously live' in Bahrain and Turn 11 hadn't been one of these this weekend, based on the action from previous events there. But, the FIA recognized, 'In hindsight, it should have been higher on our priority list as a corner'.
The FIA statement also claimed that, compared to other areas of the track that have a higher priority as track limit hot spots, checks on corners that are lower in priority 'take a bit longer'. The FIA added, 'Unfortunately, in this case, due to the timing of the check, it was not possible to act before the start of Q2. As soon as we became aware of the incident, we acted on it.
'We are building towards increased resources and improved systems and processes. On this occasion, we got it wrong.'
(Top photos: Getty Images)