Russell calls for track limits task force after sympathising with FIA

Ewan Gale
Saturday 15 May 2021 12:46

George Russell has sympathised with the FIA amidst the continued furore over track limits in F1.

The subject of how track-limit violations have been governed has been a constant topic during the campaign after the Lewis Hamilton-Max Verstappen battle in Bahrain where the Red Bull driver was ordered to cede to the Mercedes after overtaking off-track.

This was in spite of Hamilton continuously running over the same run-off area through the race, drawing ire from the Red Bull hierarchy.

Russell, who became a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association at the start of the season, believes there is no simple solution to the problem and the issue spreads wider than F1.

"Talking on behalf of George Russell the driver rather than George Russell, director of the GPDA, I think it is very difficult and I do have sympathy for the FIA," said Russell.

"Ultimately they are trying to make circuits safer and that is the number one priority but it has come at the consequence of track limits the past few seasons.

"I think it goes further than F1. F1 can manage it very well with cameras and sensors but filtering down the junior categories, they don't have the resource to do that.

"Fundamentally, something needs to change globally with all of these circuits and find the right balance but I don't have the solution so that is why I sympathise. You can't tick all the boxes.

"You can't tick boxes for safety, you can't tick the boxes for motorbikes and you can't tick the boxes for GT cars as opposed to F1 cars. It is difficult, it really is difficult.

"I don't have the answers but I guess fundamentally something needs to change longer-term and there needs to be a working group on this to find that solution, not for next year but it will be a few years down the line."

On whether the GPDA had requested a task force to look into potential solutions, Russell added: "No, they haven't yet. Obviously, we need to discuss this with all of the drivers and it is a very hot topic between us.

"We will be having discussions at the next race about this. There is continuous discussion on this and it is a case-by-case, circuit-by-circuit basis.

"We are coming into these issues week after week so for sure we will put our heads together and put forward our views and ideas but I sympathise with the FIA because it isn't a simple solution."