In the 2023 F1 Austrian GP, several drivers were penalized for going slightly off the track on turns nine and 10, which triggered the track limit rule. Since the Red Bull Ring's last few corners are quite fast, there were multiple drivers who were going off the track.
Hence, the FIA and the stewards had to go through many instances where drivers went off the white line. This resulted in certain time penalties that were imposed after the race ended, which meant that the final positions of the penalized drivers had to change.
Of course, the change of positions after a race is complete is never liked by fans. Around five hours after the race was completed, the FIA released a document stating that drivers like Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda, Logan Sargeant, and Nyck de Vries received multiple time penalties during and after the race. Hence, the final positions of these drivers were changed.
Several F1 fans reacted negatively to this news. While some simply protested and stated how ridiculous it is to learn about the race result changes long after the Austrian GP, others discussed how the track limit rule must be different for the Red Bull Ring circuit. A few even suggested adding a gravel trap near turns nine and 10.
Here are some of the reactions:
"5 hours After the race....Ridiculous !!!"
"With such a short and fast track it's better not to have track limits so everyone has the same advantage," a fan wrote.
"Honestly, this has been a problem every single year we've been to Austria. Ever thought of a track modification ala La Source? MotoGP cannot be an excuse, plenty of their circuits have gravel run off, their best does, in fact, Phillip Island," another tweeted.
Charles Leclerc is happy to be back on the podium in the 2023 F1 Austrian GP
Charles Leclerc had a good weekend at the 2023 F1 Austrian GP, as the Monagasque finished second in the race. He explained how he had good pace on Friday and in the main race. He also mentioned how Ferrari's upgrades improved the car a bit.
Leclerc told David Coulthard in Parc Ferme after the race:
"I think Friday and today, we have maximized what we had. Really, it's more yesterday that I was off the pace, but it's good to be back on the podium. The upgrades we brought on the car made me feel a little bit better in those conditions, which is looking good for the future."
The Ferrari F1 driver added:
"The team has done an excellent job by bringing this upgrade earlier, so that's great. But obviously there's still a lot of work to do because Max and Checo had a lot of pace."
Charles Leclerc is currently sixth in the drivers' championship with 72 points.