Run off areas in F1 - Safety and shortcuts

To try and stop F1 cars slamming into a wall the moment they leave the track, we give them plenty of space to escape into called run off areas. Grass, gravel, dirt and tarmac have all played their part over the years, but which works best?
And do run off areas make it too easy for cars to get away with mistakes? How do we combat that?
This video in Spanish: • Áreas De Escape En Fór...
------------------
Please do support these videos on Patreon: / chainbearf1
Twitter: / chainbearf1
Writing / Illustration / Animation / Editing / Narration:
Stuart Taylor
www.chainbear.me
sharecode: chainbearsharef1

[@chainbear]

So I MEANT to include a small bit about the fact that circuits have to accommodate other types of racing too and that gravel traps, for example, are bad for bike racing, etc. Just pretend I said that.

[@orangebking5360]

And, if you think of the economical side of things, it is more attractive for private persons and non officiall racing categories to take their cars to a track where running wide doesn't damage your car instantly. Obviously that doesn't really have anything to do with safety but that might also be a reason that most newer tracks have these huge run off areas.

[@sebok2152]

Chain Bear F1 Soon 100k

[@MatsBengtsson]

I definitely heard you say it at 2:30.

[@pulkka25]

Arent gravel traps actually better for bike racing than asphalt run-offs? I remember Luis Saloms fatal crash in Spain which was blamed mostly for the asphalt not slowing the fallen racer down before hitting the wall. Gravel traps in MotoGP for example seem to always stop fallen racers before a big shunt to the wall, which is obviously better.

[@marion5449]

I heard that around 3:15

[@Kaputt512]

Make them solve difficult CAPTCHAs if they go wide!

[@robertjencks3679]

Andrey D car shuts down until they get 5 of those grill the grid type trivia questions right

[@bt7482]

click all the boxes with a racecar off the track

[@Hollyweed1]

Find and click the cars in the following picture

[@someweeb3650]

Check all the boxes that are on track *birds eyes view of the corner they went off on*

[@AgentBacalhau]

Andrey D Wokest idea I've ever seen

[@ikt32]

Can the lava pits from Mario Kart return? Those make a pretty good deterrent.

[@thathistroyandrailwaynerd5849]

ikt lol

[@greekieshion4501]

Don't mind him yes,just someone who can't take a joke and lives a life of being always serious on every topic.

[@bandithimself6841]

Reavaverho r/woooooooosh

[@thatonecarguydirk4803]

Do you guys even know what hyperbole means?

[@bandithimself6841]

ThatOneCarGuyDirk yea it means very exaggerated for a dramatic effect

[@theredestbull]

I like the mandatory return routes best. Many tracks have these at certain areas. And it saves us from the moaning of other drivers 'He cut the chicane'. Although these are hilarious sometimes :D

[@user-nj1qc7uc9c]

grosjean at spain 2019

[@richie8528]

Didn't work today. Imagine designing a return route with a bollard which signifies where you must go, only to have to penalise the driver because there was still an advantage gained. Proper designers

[@juanmartintorrebiartealvar7205]

Prost did that to senna

[@idklike3210]

Richie but youre suppose to be slowed down in them.

[@richie8528]

Lol ik but the track designers clearly didnt have that in mind since they didnt take into consideration how to first lap is often a lot slower than the rest

[@blathers_13]

Haha, gravel traps... Get off lightly I propose all track run off areas to be replaced immediately with firey pits of lava for maximum punishment 👌👌👌

[@ddddirge]

If that happened who will finish the season??? F1 Game of Thrones??? or F1 Hunger Games???

[@WalterBurton]

👍

[@krdjmtc]

Drivers get one punch to the face at the end of the race for every second they spend off track.

[@blathers_13]

@@Reavaverho it was a joke (with literally the subject being hyperbole) but oh well guess the internet suddenly became dead ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@krdjmtc]

Reavaverho Why are you trying to ruin our fun? 😢

[@zachbuhr5245]

Where’s the sticky grass from the old Forza games? 😂

[@lexus14blacklist]

I remember you could actually use the grass to slow down faster in some cases.

[@danielwolfe4169]

Louis Warcraft its still like that

[@joonaslaakkonen8096]

@@danielwolfe4169 damn well is not

[@FerencKranicz]

@@lexus14blacklist yeah. In forza motoraport 6 i was using it every time on the le mans.

[@FRailFan]

Fuji has a nice solution. Tarmac run off areas surrounded by a small strip of grass parallel to the circuit. For turns with high speed entries such as turn 1 there's a gravel trap further on past the sea of tarmac to help try to catch the car if say the throttle sticks or brakes fail. A lot of Asian circuits seem to have adapted this since so maybe there's something to it.

[@simtekgroup3080]

Agree, that's the best solution I can think of honestly. Grass avoids the track limits issue, tarmac does its job at slowing cars down, gravel reduces risks from brake failures not covered by tarmac.

[@E9X330]

The amount of times I spun at fuji in Fran Turismo because of the grass is ridiculous 😭😭😭

[@PointNemo9]

@@E9X330 That's what makes a circuit great

[@E9X330]

@@PointNemo9 true, I just get too greedy and it punishes me hahaha

[@owez7113]

Yeah, was thinking "why not just layer run-offs" the entire video

[@ericsbuds]

5:39 hahhah that animation is too great

[@leobaldi2020]

Working at Paul Ricard, I found your video really interesting and accurate. You forgot one major point : the extrication of a car becomes a lot easier than gravel or grass. We don’t need big truck to make it and I have oftenly seen car pulled up by a simple quad here. And we don’t need SC or VSC most of the time. In the middle of the discussion around safety with these giant machines who took JB17 from us, I think this is the most important advantage you can get from run off. Another great video keep pushing!

[@Pantherace]

Léo Pouzoulet Please. Suzuka ´14 conditions were bad. Very bad. Extremely bad.

[@simtekgroup3080]

Correct, but honestly the trend is to deploy VSC/SC every time workers are on the scene (understandably), regardless of the size of the recovering vehicle. Also, tarmac runoff areas can be trickier in case of brake failures (Gachnang crash at YAS Marina comes to mind). So I'd say each solution has its pros and cons.

[@bartholomewbinkleberry3822]

great.now lets talk about that pit entry of yours

[@sergeantsupreme4395]

@@Pantherace and it'll never rain again, or maybe a driver gets the front wing stuck underneath the car and can't avoid a crash?

[@Pantherace]

​@@sergeantsupreme4395 The big question: is it really necessary to move every car when it's outside of the track?

[@metaphoricalemon835]

6:02 _shooting stars intensifies_

[@kamui004]

Formula 1 IN SPACE!

[@sorshfa412]

Was gonna say the exact same thing!

[@0611131civil]

Laughed my ass off on the joke on football.. again a very good work.. keep it up..

[@cinquine1]

The point is that it should. With gravel traps there doesn't need to be a rule saying you can't, but there's no reason why after implementing safer asphalt runoffs that rules shouldn't be made so people use runoffs for advantage. It was a direct counter to the claim that if a track can be driven faster going off it is poorly designed. Also it is completely and utterly not a strawman. Whose argument was misrepresented? It was a counter to an argument, not a misrepresentation of an argument.

[@KudosK42]

Prabhu M you laughed so hard your butt fell off? Oh my god i’m calling the ambulance

[@LetztezBatallion]

@@Reavaverho The consequence in football are brought on by the rules and the referee. The ball does not explode when you pick it up, a rugby team does not tackle you if you dare to use your hands. Just like in F1. But lets take a look at similar rulesets in football and F1. For example, offside. Why offside? Well, they are kind of similar to running off the track. An offside is a player that is in a position where he should not be trying to gain a (huge) advantage for his team. When a player is on offside, their team loses the possesion of the ball and has to retreat. Goals can (and generally are) nullified, and the ball returns to the position where it was right before the infraction, just in the possession of the other team. And, whats more important, unless the player goes to offside repeteadly there is not even a warning, let alone a punishment to the player itself. Isn't that what happens in F1? Time penalties, mandatory rejoins and ceding of positions, while do not directly affect the driver itself heavily affect the outcome of a race. 10 seconds is goddamn huge in racing, and having to brake down to let other people pass you leave you further and further behind to those that are in front of you. Escentially, not only are any advantages that you get for doing it eliminated, you hurt your chances in the long run. Also, you're taking his example very specifically. What he means is: Don't be an asshole, don't cheat. if you cheat, the responsability is on you, and you only. Saying things like "Well, if they don't want me to cheat don't build safety measures that allow me to cheat" demonstrates a callous disregard for ethics, and the spirit of the sport where you are participating right now. It disrespects the sport, the history of the sport, your team, your car and more importantly your fans. Very few fans want to see their favorite driver win by cheating. If we take statistics from other sports and say we can compare them to F1, only less than 4% of sport fans think cheating to win is okay. The absolute majority wants to see their favorite win within the rules and restrictions of the sport. If my favorite football team won the tournament by cheating all the way trough, where is the fun in that?

[@zeusmc.8662]

People will cheat if it's in their benefit. If they don't somebody else will and they lose. A better comparison would be an asphalt run-off area is like a game of poker where you can go all in, if you win you win, if you lose you get 90% of the chips back. Even when they do stay in the lines, they didn't really risk much, so the commitment is gone. Its all low stakes to the detriment of the sport. If a car breaks down, do you want it that we go under safety, they run back to the pits, get a new car and rejoin the race in position. F1 used to be about attrition and pushing the edge. This channel likes every safety feature ever but its not a universally held view.

[@1_foxtrot_012]

Prabhu M guessing no one has heard of Gaelic football which is and Irish sport where you can hold the ball

[@lucaswalters2181]

In NASCAR last season, the Charlotte Speedway was converted to a road course and one of the new rules implemented was that if a driver ran offtrack, they had to come to a complete stop before advancing on the course. It proved quite effective at serving instant penalties a number of times throughout the race.

[@mceajc]

I ashamedly admit that I am not a huge fan of F1 racing (prefer rally or stock car racing), but this channel is absolutely gripping and informative. Superb work, Mr. Taylor.

[@andrewmayer2443]

mceajc *gripping*

[@cucumber_8671]

You got to remember that other people use the track. You don’t want people at track days getting stuck in the gravel trap and wasting other people’s time on it.

[@fcbFreack]

Drivers getting stuck in gravel is an essential part of this sport. There are reasons why people like city circuits, it's because you crash the wall if you fail and thus your race is over. It's the same with gravel traps.

[@jonasjensen9011]

Yeah tarmac runoff is too forgiving, it is almost like a videogame with no consequences

[@jonasjensen9011]

Yeah god point but i still think it is too easy to just run off the track and only have a little tyre wear, people should get stuck or loose loads of time to differentiate a good driver who can stay on the track from a bad driver who can't

[@rijugas]

So you're saying that drivers breaking bones and maybe even dying is an essential part of this sport? That's the stupidest thing i've heard...

[@WalterBurton]

No Vaidas, that's not what he's saying. How do you link to names on this YouCludge website?

[@rijugas]

No clue... It's become pretty stupid tbh.

[@dominiccupo1580]

Goddamn you can even make a video about runoffs fascinating. Fantastic Job.

[@superb1i]

5, 6, 7, 8 who do we appreciate? ChainBear ChainBear!

[@TheRemco98]

I agree, specific return routes make sure drivers aren't going to have advantages when leaving the track and when they don't follow these routes, the race control can give them a time penalty if needed

[@turboj7161]

5:57 AND GUESS WHAT HAPPENED IN F3

[@DJBOGOSFLOFFICIAL]

AWWWWW MAN

[@forzaelite1248]

The amount of physics you applied and simplified in this video made me feel like I didn't just waste the year in Physics C!

[@mchaelmachine80904k]

Nkosi McRae it all pays off when you save $$$ in college! Trust me

[@christophermichael8010]

I like gravel traps more but the problem is what could happen if let’s say the car just dug in and roll around. It might can cause worse damage or injuries. One of the case of gravel traps flipping cars is in DTM Lausitzring this year. Could be different if Rene Rast got punted into runoff area, maybe his car won’t roll

[@eskrr]

as a new*(er) f1 fan your videos are helping out a ton in understanding it all. making the races even more interesting! thank you and keep up the good work. 100k subs soon™ well deserved

[@TitaniusAnglesmith]

In rally our run off areas are trees. They work the best for slowing you down.

[@LesterBrunt]

Titanius Anglesmith But muh safety!!!!

[@lawsyjnr_7740]

Can you do a vid on ground affects aero and why it’s banned as from what I’ve heard it could be an alternative to regular aero as it creates less turbulence and would improve races but yet it’s still band?

[@joey6280]

I would be extremely inquisitive to watch a video covering that topic

[@tommykl]

IIRC it was banned because running them at maximum efficiency required extremely stiff suspensions, which made them extremely rough to drive and borderline painful on bumps. Badly-designed ground effects also led to porpoising, which is a recurring uncomfortable heaving motion. I do think that with current aero knowledge, a lot can be gained from ground effects with sensible restrictions, such as banning sliding skirts. I'd like to see it be brought back, rather like the ground effects used by IndyCar.

[@tommykl]

You misunderstand: that was at the best of times. Drivers were beginning to experience momentary losses of consciousness and physical injuries. This aside, if the suction created by the skirts was broken momentarily, most of the downforce disappeared, which could cause massive accidents. It's widely believed that Patrick Depailler's fatal crash was caused by this.

[@miy1925hassun]

I believe we already have ground effects. The current cars produce about 70% of their downforce from the underbody but instead of skirts, vortices are created at where the skirts would normally be to trap the air.

[@christopheroconnor4665]

Check the most recent 2021 regs news. Ground effect is coming back!

[@hert_man177]

grass run off me playing forza: hmm who painted this road green and made it fuzzy

[@heavyharris5580]

I say they should convert the gravel traps into huge pools of oobleck. In theory it should arrest their speed, but then the force of the spinning tires can harden up the surface they're trying to escape from and let them move on with the race. What fun.

[@efthymis_mc3474]

But wouldn't the car sink into it and be unable to get out if it got stopped?

[@ivan_pozdeev_u]

Or, because the car is so hot, it'll evaporate the water and bake the starch around it, making an instant F1 pie!

[@rfldss89]

I was thinking of installing a strip of grass approx 5m wide right along the edge of the track, with tarmac between the grass (or synthetic turf) and the exterior edge of the run off area, but this solution of soft obstacles seems like it would be much more effective and easier to maintain.

[@vanlop6020]

Thats what i was thinking while watching the video, It would be perfect because the track would not seem like a parking as paul Richard and It would be efficient and safe

[@snowfall2515]

Watched this after 2019 monza Welp a car did went flying aftet running over an sausage curb

[@timowilms8102]

I like graveltraps.

[@samnz07]

Great videos. No fluff just solid explanations

[@Poobtato]

It's sooo satisfying to see the dust cloud and gravel stones flying when cars lose control and hit the gravel traps at speed

[@CplJx]

It's really easy and hard at the same time, but my theory is to add laser measuring sensors beneath the track which make take some time to calculate, but once calculated the driver would be awarded a set penalty depending on the speed and the amount of track cut as simple as that sounds it may take some time to equate

[@lePierre1860]

Why are you so freaking amazing ChainBear. If only one of my professors would be able to explain as well as you do, my god..

[@sonson8877]

Love this animations that make you understand perfectly what's going on

[@botecof1]

Amazing video as always, Stuart. ;)

[@formula31]

fala sérgio!!

[@speedy83]

Video appeared on my front page of KZbin - and you definitely deserve that positive publicity! A deeply entertaining video, will have to watch some more of your work!

[@twinturbo3470]

When the new 2021 engine regulations come out can you please do a video on what all will have to change compared to the current Pu. If they are just dropping the MGU-H and sticking with the original platform of 1.6 V6 Turbo MGU-K than I would really like to know what all will have to change and why.

[@chainbear]

When they drop, I'll be all over it :)

[@AmandeepSingh-lo1xi]

every video of yours is worth watching.. excellent content as alaways..keep it up

[@_qwe_fk_1700]

Totally agree with you! The last solution you named which is often used is the best.

[@guibehmer]

I like the gravel and walls (where's safe, like the wall of the champions in Canadá) 'cause I think it is supposed to be punishing. Sure, some guys (Grojean) won't finish the race, but they are supposed to be the best drivers in the world, right? I mean when there is the actual risk of dnf in case of missing a curve, that's when we see the best driving techniques. The races in these Tilke circuits are sooo boring. Great job, love the channel.

[@danydowner9418]

Your voice and your narration makes it super easy to understand the ins and outs of F1. I've recently became a fan of the sport now I watch your videos to understand it. Thank you.

[@zzzonked666]

Once again another fantastic video, keep up the great work!

[@jokumukamikalie]

I don't care about F1 one bit and never watch a single race, but your videos are really entertaining!

[@illarius9680]

Your videos are very clear and your animations are great ! Thanks you a lot, you have a great channel

[@a201122111]

Hi Chain Bear~ I’m a subscriber from Taiwan, and is very appreciate your work. I’ve done some subtitles to the video and keen to share your masterpiece to more of my people~

[@shubhashissaha]

Kindly make a video on the different phases of the race start! And also kudos for all the videos... really fun to watch! :D

[@ashwinkrishna490]

Wow. i really hope F1 will implement your techniques. Good going bro !

[@AishaFPS]

Awesome video as always! Loving your work!

[@ayush612]

Awesome work!! So glad I could finally find all F1 answers!

[@Cashiz88]

5:08 I do that on the Austria track every time.

[@SystemofaDownsupport]

Another superb video from chain bear!!

[@BC-iq8ks]

Great video . To be fair I didn't mind the run off area in Paul riccard, I minded the 200 different layouts and the paint on the run off area that made it difficult to find the track . As for track limits, they're only an issue on corners like copse, as cutting a corner is quite noticible. What they should do is have a patch of grass or gravel straight after the kerbs , forcing the car to lose time, and then have the safe run off area.

[@draconicdusk5911]

My thoughts exactly. Make it a punishment for those who make a mistake, but also make it safe for those who lose control. I think a 1-2ft wide grass/artificial turf patch just behind the curbs followed by the tarmac run off area will help to solve that. It means drivers who try to rejoin the track at high speeds would have less grip and have the risk of spinning, forcing them to slow down when rejoining the track.

[@TheDapperDog402]

Actually it’s 167 different possible layouts😁 (sorrynotsorry)

[@BC-iq8ks]

DapperDog 😂😂😂 You forgot the 33 creative interpretations of track limits that are possible as well

[@michallacki9462]

Dude you make the best F1 videos on youtube. Amazing !

[@CallMeMarex]

I like your hilarious comments on the side with all those extra bits. Definitely a plus to the video. Keep it going, you are doing a great job, as this video shows yet again (obviously).

[@chainbear]

Thanks Jonah! This video ended up being really hard to make so I'm glad you still enjoyed it

[@SedrikGSX]

Nicely explained, easy and interesting. Nice video! It would be nice if all circuits have this mandatory return routes

[@TheStockCarStig]

Places like Suzuka are one of the last remnants of the gravel trap run off area. I think that's one reason drivers like that track a lot too.

[@Starfire_Storm]

I like the track because it's a great track, not because it has gravel traps, it's idiotic to like a track just because it has gravel traps

[@GloomGaiGar]

wrong, suzuka is awesome because of its very technical design not because it has a bunch of rocks and pebbles

[@fransisrld]

Great video again mate! Also I like the Paul Riccard solution looks interesting and new and it kinda works. Maybe if the put also a route to follow if they go out that is like the best solution? I like to think so.

[@Sepp180]

your videos are just amazing i love them❤

[@paulodr33]

Congrats on the 100k, sir!

[@pedroleitao4994]

Great video as allways! I totally agree with mandatory return routes! But I would also add some meters of a severe abrasive pavement at the edge of the track. Then any driver who use the limits of the track to gain time would punish severely his own tires and drivers who get off the track would have an heavy grip to help them to slowdown the car and avoid crashes. It would work both as penalization and safety measure.

[@crispinimini]

Amazing vídeo, Nice see again, again, again.

[@dankatz5224]

Excellent video as always! I like the approach at Suzuka where they use a small area of artificial grass on the outside of the kerb to punish errors, but then have a fairly generous tarmac runoff beyond that for safety. The Paul Ricard approach gives me a headache! I wish they coloured the stripes the same as the surrounding tarmac or vice versa otherwise you get horrible screen aliasing!

[@uncleelias]

Some of Paul Richard's design was with safety in mind. Most of it seems to me to be for flexibility. They can easily run different layouts for different types of motor racing.

[@marciano98]

Another amazing video keep them going love your vids

[@natespear6779]

damn what a nice animation at 7:15. good stuff!

[@ugobattaglia7250]

Thanks for this content. Very interesting

[@aolou3]

great videos, after a range of different mechanical faults this weekend in Austria, would you maybe be able to do a video on some common mechanical faults that occur and how they happen, and how DC always seems to know what the fault is before its announced? Thanks!

[@TheJokerit19]

The form of having to navigate a tight chicane of polystyrene bollards from Monza is now also used for the Mistral straight chicane while the method used in Montmelo and Sochi is also used in Monza (for the 2nd chicane) as well as in Montreal, Singapore, and Mexico but in a bit different way there.

[@soufiankoraichi]

Learning physics test for tomorrow by watching your videos. Definitely an A+

[@pastorofmuppets7654]

Nicely done!

[@andoryuu3936]

I like the way they designed the runoff on spoon curve at Suzuka. A bit of astro turf right after the track then an asphalt runoff to keep you off the wall. Enough penalty if you go wide but not as far as race ending. Of course there's always the chance of ripping the astro turf like you said in the video but i think they can improve on that somehow.

[@HeliSal700]

I was in favor of gravel traps for a long time ... until now. I have to think about it, again :-( Superb job in explaining complicated stuff with a lot of side effects in a simple and understandable way.

[@harmenvanderploeg9666]

Great video! I was wondering though, what if a car is out of control, say due to brake failures, damage or the driver injured? A gravel trap will always slow a car down, whereas tarmac will only do so if the brakes are applied... Would that be of any significance?

[@nikolabolic7120]

Well we saw in Monza 2019 Formula 3... Big run off area with a curb. The F3 car became boeing 747 and just took off

[@greenshell4082]

Awesome video! Didn't know the purpose or even know the name of those detector kerbs.

[@radityo1990]

hearing you say the sausage kerbs can launch the car into the air makes me smile you predicted the crash at monza

[@Catcrumbs]

Unfortunately he didn't predict the death of Antoine Hubert - the inevitable result of run-off areas that allow drivers to proceed at race speed and rule-makers who do essentially nothing to stop it.

[@lukaslcds]

I'm Brazilian and I've been following you recently, your videos are amazing, congratulations

[@BrunoCaxito]

Não sou o único brasileiro aqui! haha

[@RendiRetnandito29]

again, great video!

[@LeaderofChickens]

I haven't watched F1 at all and yet here I am watching these videos

[@BlueCJ]

Great video!

[@philipstokes865]

Excellent video

[@lebophetla1239]

You've completely changed my mindset on these run-off areas.... Great video...

[@lucahoganyt4435]

You did a good job of making a somewhat mundane talking point entertaining. You get a subscriber

[@FORZAPOTENZA]

Ultimately the best solution is to utilise a mixture of methods. Bollards on the inside of corners are good for less fragile cars as they define the track limits, you wouldn't cut a corner if you'd hit a bollard to do so. I like the idea of small strips of gravel being used. That tends to be very effective as the car digs in but never enough to get stuck

[@jorisfries7595]

Nerly there mate #Roadto100k

[@Fritz___]

6:01 Exactly like that crash from F3 last year 🙄

[@TamDNB]

Almost 100k!

[@ericsson_motorsports]

I like the idea of having roughly a cars width of grass separating the track from a big tarmac run off area. This way there will not be a reason to cut the corner as there will not be much grip beyond the track limits however if a car goes off then there is plenty of grippy tarmac to slow down

[@pate7899]

I say that they should install some kind of speed detector on tarmac run-offs so drivers won’t use them as a advantange. They should get a 5-second penalty if they go over the allowed speed. One time running wide would be fine, but every time later would result in a penalty.

[@nomon8954]

I'd love to see a lot more of the "ultra grip zones" as it is extremely difficult to implement rules on when a drives has to use a return route and when not. Also, the "ultra grip zones" can help slow a crashing car even more then normal tarmac, and when heading straight for a barrier tirewear is not your main focus

[@finkelly9289]

What Another Amazing Video. As I Racing Driver I Love This. 😆😆

[@hvymtal8566]

Whenever people complain about shallow curbstones or massive tarmac runoff areas it's like they completely forget that motorcycles exist, are also raced, and have much more severe consequences for loss of control. If we want to pretend that bikes don't exist, there's also a certain pair of incidents in San Marino in 1994 that might have been less severe or avoided entirely had the runoff been longer and fully-paved. Safety improvements should not require tragedy as a prerequisite

[@patrickmcpolin340]

the idea of Paul Richard is the best solution. drivers get punished by basically having no choice but to pit for new tyres. so it adds a "I have to get this right" mentality and in the long run improves the skill of all drivers

[@mortachaiepstein3584]

At the 2019 Indycar race a COTA, the Indycar officials removed the track limits. At a big turn with a huge runoff area, they simply went straight into the runoff area by like 10-15 meters and went faster by doing that.

[@TheKincognito]

Great Video as always Stuart! i think for this one it's worth mentioning Things outside of F1. Gravel Traps are especially bad for Motorcycle racing. They profit a lot from Tarmac run-off. Both in terms of safety and actually staying on the Bike in the first place.

[@chainbear]

Yeah I very nearly included that - particularly raked gravel (also astroturf is bad for motorcycling I hear?) I'm kicking myself now cause I very explicitly meant to include a line about circuits needing to accommodate other series and it seems I forgot! Argh. I'll pin this comment instead

[@TheKincognito]

Chain Bear F1 Yeah, hitting Astroturf on a Moto GP Bike is pretty much an instant Ticket to the Hospital.

[@rexuro64]

i remember a certain case in 1995 where häkkinen nearly died because the car was jumping over tarmac, after loosing the rear at a fast corner and gaining a bit of height from the outside kerbs and then had nearly the same speed when it hit the wall sideways

[@deandejaguar]

What about a mix? Gravel trap strips that lead to tarmac and mandatory return routes? Punishment for going on means hitting the gravel which may cause damage (but they made a mistake so - punishment), it slows the car a little but then causes them to dirty their tires. Then on the tarmac they can slow down more effectively, before having to take a longer route back to the track where most gravel will be left off the circuit.

[@thiagoveloso7610]

I think you need mostly a combination of three things The return routes are very good to use at most corners (Turn 19 of COTA, Les Combes in Spa) but in some turns you can only put the kerbs, when you don't have enough space for a return route and the drivers tend to win time by cutting the corner (Turns 1&2 of Catalunya-Montmeló, Variante di Ascari at Monza) and the giant blue lines like the ones in Paul Ricard actually would help a lot in the case of the car really going out at high speed, to prevent bad crashes (Turn 3 at Red Bull Ring, 130R in Suzuka)

[@JonathanKuriakose]

I think another idea that could work in F1 very well is if we have a thin strip of gravel running along the side of the track. It deters the drivers from running wide but still gives the advantage of the asphalt run off area.

[@EversonBernardes]

Super-grippy, textured tarmac (think airport runway) is the best compromise, IMO. Helps even further with safety in several ways, and punishes drivers in a fashion that isn't dangerous or permanent.