The FIA is set to clamp down on Formula 1 drivers potentially gaining an advantage by cutting the Monaco chicane in Sunday’s race.
The subject of going off track has become a talking point at several venues this year.
In Jeddah Kevin Magnussen did to make a pass on Yuki Tsunoda in Jeddah, accepted a penalty, and then defended his Haas team mate Nico Hulkenberg up ahead.
Magnussen was again in the news in the Miami sprint after going off track on several occasions during his battle to keep Lewis Hamilton behind, again protecting Hulkenberg. He received multiple penalties for the various offences, further ramping up the debate about such strategic moves, with McLaren boss Andrea Stella calling his tactics “completely unacceptable.”
However Magnussen was himself upset with Hulkenberg after the German jumped the chicane, got himself out of the Dane’s DRS range, and was able to pull away.
Although he didn’t reference the incident on the radio at the time he was part of a discussion on the matter in the Imola drivers’ briefing.
In Monaco the issue is not so much breaking the DRS but gaps between drivers ahead of pit stops, which are so critical in a race that sees little on-track overtaking.
In the past drivers have cut the chicane a lap or two before their stops either to open up a gap to the car behind, or close it to the car in front, thus potentially gaining an advantage that could earn them a place in the pits.
After a discussion in Friday’s briefing in Monaco it was agreed that the FIA would monitor the situation carefully on Sunday.
A driver who does cut the chicane has to give back any advantage gained by Tabac, the following corner, or face an investigation.
They thus just have a few seconds in which to make that call effectively on their own, as there will be barely any time for their engineers to intervene and ask them to cede any advantage.
They would also potentially lose some momentum heading into Tabac and the fast Swimming Pool section that follows.
The standard penalty for gaining an advantage by going off track is 10 seconds, with a drive through to potentially follow.
Gaining an advantage remains a major talking point in briefings, with the Magnussen/Hulkenberg incident in Miami providing an interesting case study.
“I couldn’t talk about that on the radio because I didn’t want Nico to get a penalty,” said Magnussen when asked it by this writer. “I was pissed off that he cut the chicane and I missed out on DRS, but I couldn’t really talk about it.
“But then I did exactly the same thing. And in fact, I lost time. I gained time to Lewis, but I lost time to my best sector. Nico gained, he did a green sector. So I think his case was even a little worse than mine.
“I’m happy he didn’t get a penalty, because he went on to score points. But what’s the difference? I mean, why did I get it? Lewis complained on radio, as he should.
“I had DRS. And then I lost DRS. He cut the chicane and opened the gap. Is that not an advantage?”
Hulkenberg downplayed the incident and said that he had tried to minimise the advantage gained.
“I didn’t intentionally cut the chicane, I locked up and I would have jumped the kerb like Max [Verstappen] did on Sunday,” said the German. “And that actually gave me DRS from the car in front.
“But on the next straight I didn’t use DRS for that very reason, because I got it without properly earning it. So I kind of neglected the gain that I got from it, but obviously Kevin behind he lost it probably for a tenth, and it just shows that very fine margins can have a very big impact.”
He added: “For missing a chicane, you don’t usually get a penalty. It’s at most track limits or something.
“I think if you leave the track and you gain an advantage, if I would have then used DRS and overtaken the guy, I think that’s a different story but how it went, it’s racing. Twenty drivers, 18 different opinions. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”
Adam Cooper F1 