Despite giving a running commentary of Sergio Perez and Lando Norris's perceived violations of the track limits, Lewis Hamilton says that monitoring rivals misdemeanours is not motorsport.

Already frustrated by the fact that his Mercedes was nothing like the same car that had taken him to the podium in Barcelona, Hamilton's mood was hardly helped when just 17 laps into the race he was informed that he had received a penalty for track limits violations.

As his afternoon went from bad to worse, the Briton did a Miss Marple and began reporting the track limits violations of rivals including Perez and Norris.

Speaking after the race however, the seven-time world champion admitted that it didn't feel right to be policing other drivers.

"I think they need to probably find a new solution for this track," he said, according to Speedcafe.com. "A few years ago, when we didn't have the track limit thing, the track was more enjoyable to drive.

"Now, it's strange to be driving and have to comment on the car ahead because that's what the team wants you to do. I think they did it in Austin a couple of years ago, but that's not racing, right. It's not motorsport.

"But as soon as he got past me, he went off like at least ten times," he said of Norris, "and so did Perez. Perez would go off at Turn 9 and Turn 10, and he didn't get a penalty.

"We should be able to just go off and none of us get a penalty," he insisted.

The Briton's mood will not have been helped that he was one of 8 drivers to be handed a post-race penalty, thereby dropping him a position to eighth.

The Mercedes driver believes that his main problem with the car was that as the rear end had felt bad all weekend, too much front wing was taken off the car come the race.

"I was almost full lock around the last two corners," he said. "Going into Turn 10, I was just sliding, and I couldn't do anything about it.

"Through the pit stops we made, we added a lot of wing, and the car started to slowly come back to, or at least it was getting round and staying on track.

"But I definitely didn't expect to be as bad as we were. I don't really have an answer for it. It's definitely surprising."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Editor, 04/07/2023 17:26

"@ elsiebc

"They could put an umpire at the exit of each corner..."

Now you're talking... Death Race 2000"

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2. Posted by elsiebc, 04/07/2023 16:40

"I got it! They could put an umpire at the exit of each corner and he could give a hand signal for each driver whether they are out or safe, like in baseball! It would give the driver immediate feedback as well as the audience, just like in other sports.
Oh, and if you hit the umpire it's a drive through penalty. (Unless you hit him because you didnt' like the call, then it unsportsmanlike behavior and you get whatever they gave Norris in Canada.)"

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3. Posted by kenji, 04/07/2023 11:27

"@ Defiant...Thanks for the response. According to Reuters Newsagency nine drivers in total were penalised during the Austrian GP and many of those were for multiple offences!!! By extrapolation eleven drivers managed to race within the white lines. What that tells you is that the problem lies not with the track but with the drivers. I do agree that the timing was abysmal but consider this...twenty cars all competing in an [ avg ] 65 second cycle 74 times. Not only were stewards having to monitor track limits but other misdemeanours as well. As for the bikes/cars/runoff situation I'm not sure if we are watching the same series. Yes, track limits are common occurrences but all the spills and thrills I have seen this year would have to be in 90% gravel traps! It was a shame that the results were delayed and the confusion that followed should not have happened. My solution is very simple...a long lap penalty etc etc etc to be completed within one lap of notification otherwise a hefty fine and posible race exclusion. Do that and there won't be any track limits problems in the future. Would the racing be any slower? I doubt it and even if it was it would be indiscernable."

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4. Posted by Pavlo, 04/07/2023 5:59

"@Defiant - agree with “immediate” and I don’t think it’s too difficult. For me the white line is way better visible that imaginary offside line in soccer, still there is a sustainable solution there.
Maybe stewards should just review the procedures so that the penalty comes within a lap.
Even more, in the era when AI shows distance to a car in front live within a picture, it should be not that difficult to detect and flag violations within seconds."

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5. Posted by Defiant, 04/07/2023 2:47

"@kenji, no I'm not saying they are superfluous, I, just like spindoctor think that these things should be penalised without delay, that's something a wall or a gravel trap does but the FIA are clearly incapable of.
Moto GP do a far better job of policing track limits.
We've heard many times from that "the powers that be" don't want bikes dealing with the gravel traps, they prefer the smooth run offs. This is one of the things that I do agree are safer for slowing vehicles but unfortunately allow a get out of jail free mentality in the 4wheelers and are encouraging them to go out of the lines further and further. Something that drivers of old still did, but could only go so far without paying a penalty to the gods of racing by bouncing off a wall or through a trap. We cared less because it was part of the race, NOT THE AFTER FARCE."

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6. Posted by BillH, 03/07/2023 20:33

"Maybe the circuit owners could try to Make AustrianGP Great Again by building a wall outside those two corners and the drivers race it like Canada or Monaco?
No snitching required then. "

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7. Posted by kenji, 03/07/2023 13:01

"@ Chester, right on it. I'd throw some weight on 'deflection' as well/"

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8. Posted by Chester, 03/07/2023 12:08

"Pontification, or is it obfuscation, from the GOAT. "

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9. Posted by Pavlo, 03/07/2023 11:20

"Lewis should talk to his team. If MB gets live video from his car, they could hire a student to watch it. If not, buy 3 tickets and set scouts with cameras. Asking driver to monitor it is a waste of time.
Also they can’t at the some time say they don’t see the line, and they see when opponent crosses it.
I am just laughing when drivers want us to believe how incompetent they are. What did Lewis do in Monaco, if he had no confidence that the car will make a corner? Drive slower. What did he do in Austria? Drive fast and told us he is not able to do differently. Be honest, just say that possibility to win speed and time is worth a risk of 5 seconds.
The only problem I see is that spectators don’t get immediate information. As to drivers - it’s their job, same for everyone, and they are definitely capable of doing it."

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10. Posted by kenji, 03/07/2023 10:46

"@ Defiant....The fact that the track has white lines defining the track limits should be self explanatory. Are you suggesting that they are superfluous and should not actually exist, thereby allowing each individual driver to choose the trajectory that suits him best? That would be a short cut to utter chaos. Others have compared RBR to Monaco where we rarely see track limits violations. Drivers can race between the lines for fair and equitable results but the minute you turn a blind eye to the white lines then guess what happens? Exploitation and unfair advantages taken. How can that be policed...it can't. As for Moto GP. I follow this series as religiously as F1 these days and I am at a loss to understand your comments. Most tracks that Moto GP race at have a great many gravel traps that work well for riders and machinery. Serious incidents/injuries usually occur on the black stuff.....

"

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11. Posted by Spindoctor, 03/07/2023 10:26

"Of course, drivers should, as Wolff told Hamilton "Drive". The problem isn't Track Limits per se, it's that they seem pretty arbitrarily applied. My guess is that F1 isn't set up with multiple cameras at each corner and\or has too few people analysing things in real time. Notification of both infringements & penalties must be immediate.

It is totally unacceptable retrospectively to apply penalties for driving "offences"."

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12. Posted by Defiant, 03/07/2023 10:11

"I think you should listen to Toto. Just drive the car! Being a Darren isn't going to do you any favours at all.

It's the poorly implemented rules again. Moto GP seem to be getting it mostly right, so why is F1 failing so miserably?
Unfortunately, It just seems to me that the FIA are over complicating something again. Do we care about the limits that much. In yesteryears gone by, they used to use any and every advantage and just raced.

I miss the simplicity of a gravel trap, or (in the case of Monaco etc, barriers) they seem to police the track limits perfectly well. I do understand that bikes and cars are different animals and the bike friendly run offs are giving the cars get out of jail free cards and we don't want that, so how about we go back to the practice of mostly using different tracks for bikes and cars? I know that makes it harder for the circuits to make money, so maybe Fiberty and the other formulas owners should charge less for hosting fees to accommodate.
"

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13. Posted by kenji, 03/07/2023 8:55

"I must admit to some confusion here. Hamilton states that his persistent whining about competitors off track excursions was at the behest of his team! He quotes 'at having to comment on the car ahead becuase that what the team wants you to do' then, 'That's not racing, it's not motorsport!!! later Wolff comes on the tannoy and tells him, in other words, just get on with the driving. Something is fishy as if the team required some snitvhing how come Wollf issued a directive that appears to be in conflict with that direction? Someone is telling porkies here...."

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14. Posted by CL, 03/07/2023 8:14

"No one whining about drivers whining yet? Or I’d it just me whining about people whining about drivers whining?

What an entertaining race. "

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"It's not motorsport," says Hamilton of track limits snitching

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