Fake gravel among new track limits measures for US Grand Prix

Changes confirmed at Austin aimed at avoiding repeat of last year's track limits problems

United States Grand Prix organisers have made a series of revisions to the Austin circuit to try to help reduce Formula 1 track limits problems, Autosport has learned.

With the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) venue being resurfaced for this year, the opportunity was there to address issues that cropped up at last year’s F1 race with drivers abusing the white lines at the edge of the circuit.

In fact, the problem of drivers cutting corners became so prevalent that Haas sought a right of review over what it claimed were multiple breaches by competitors in the race that should have been sanctioned.

While the FIA stewards rejected Haas’ request, on-board video footage of drivers running off track – especially Turn 6 – prompted complaints from other teams about the lack of action being taken.

In the end, while the FIA acknowledged that on-board footage of the track limits problems existed, it said external monitoring of specific corners was not deemed sufficient to provide an accurate judgement on if drivers had been outside the white lines.

Mindful of the situation that emerged last year, it has now emerged that Austin has made a series of modifications to the circuit that should prevent a repeat scenario this year.

At several areas of the track, the asphalt verges have been narrowed by 1.5 metres and replaced with turf which should stop drivers being tempted to run fully across them. These are on the inside of Turns 6, 13, 14 and 15.

To help the policing of potential track limits problems, Austin also said it had added cameras in “strategic places” that should help better monitor any cars that are deemed to run off the track.

A change has also been made at the exit of Turn 11, the tight left-hander on to the back straight. This had previously been an asphalt run off area with 'turtle bumps' on the exit, but it has now been fitted with a resin-bound gravel filled insert.

This 'fake gravel' was pioneered at Zandvoort several years ago to act as a deterrent for drivers, but not risk loose stones being brought back on to the track.

It is understood that the change has been made as an experiment for this year – with COTA needing to balance the requirements of F1 with MotoGP.

Austin race promoter Bobby Epstein said: “There are some areas where it's hard because, if you run Moto GP and F1 on the same track, one wants gravel in an area where another one wouldn't.

“You can't have both, and you can't cut into the track and put in gravel, then flip it back and hope it stays watertight when you have clay underneath it. So there's some back and forth challenges to it.”

Other kerbs have also been replaced around the track, with drainage added to help improve things for wet conditions.

Track resurfacing

As well as the changes for track limits, Austin has also undergone a resurfacing since last year’s race – which should help alleviate some of the bumps that drivers complained about in 2023.

“It was mainly to get rid of the bumps,” added Epstein. “Some of that track was 12 years old, so it was time.

“I know Max [Verstappen] gave it a pretty poor review last year. So I hope we hear something positive. I'm certain we're going to hear: ‘This is like a totally new track. It's fantastic.’”