Parc Ferme: Racing Room

For those new to F1, it might seem a strange world where the decision over whether a driver has left the track is down to three guys in a remote, temperate room.

However, for the years preceding tarmac run-offs, this was a moot stewarding point. If a driver exceeded its limits, it was not intentional, and for sure, they gained no advantage – nature took care of that.

But, the introduction of tarmac run-offs in F1 in the late 1990s changed that immutable condition. Suddenly, leaving the track was no longer a perilous and time-consuming scenario but one where you could steal an advantage.

The consequences of this tarmac were initially a regulatory quagmire. The F1 officials and stewards were now required to judge whether an advantage had been gained or not. The regulators also had to detail how they would do this in the sporting code. Gradually, over time, the rules (and wording) were refined, and a degree of balance was restored, albeit at an onerous cost.

However, another issue had reared its head with a new term entering the lexicon: Racing room. This refers to the situation where two drivers are alongside each other. Essentially, one must not then seek to push the other off the track.

The rules for entering a corner are well-established and understood by all. However, exiting a corner was a different matter. The presence of dust, grass or gravel on the other side of the white line had always ensured drivers who found a car on their inside generally backed out and dropped in behind when being overtaken.

But then, the removal of these hazards now meant they didn’t. If they were then forced off the track, they cried “foul”. The official’s response was to introduce the requirement that one driver give “racing room” to another – everywhere.

The act of overtaking into a corner – something we all want to see. Requires the “overtakee” to compromise their entry. For the manoeuvre to be successful, the driver being passed must be deprived of space at the apex and, most importantly, at the exit.

If this doesn’t happen, the one executing the move will almost certainly be disadvantaged here or at the next corner, a point that was well illustrated by Johnny Herbert in an interview recently.

Other overtaking options are generally contrived, with the need to assist drivers with DRS to pass on the straight.

Whilst we can’t have drivers forcing others off at the entry of a corner, if someone is not alongside the next man, at the apex or exit, then they need to back out.

Just like the regulations for track limits, “racing room” requires some refinement or out-braking another driver into a bend may become a rare sight, the alternative is to line the exit with some gravel or grass before the start of the tarmac runoff and let nature regulate everything once again.

Fortunately, that idea is already beginning to resinate.