Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen both damaged their cars, which drove way over the curbs of Turn 2 during Friday practice, leading Mercedes and Red Bull to urge the FIA to consider changes.
FIA Race Director Michael Masi confirmed that he would look into the matter after two radio conversations that were broadcast during the two practice sessions on Friday.
However, the FIA has declined requests from F1 teams to remove the exit curbs that were left for the opening Formula 3 race on Saturday morning and will continue to be used in FP3 and qualifying.
This despite the fact that the respective sporting directors of Mercedes and Red Bull Ron Meadows and Jonathan Wheatley point out the serious damage and financial costs involved in driving over the curbs.
On the subject of matching items
The teams are particularly concerned about the financial impact of offsetting with the introduction of a new cost cap this year.
Wheatley stressed during his second practice session with Masi that the “penalty for going far is approximately £ 100,000”.
On the subject of matching items
The issue was discussed at Paul Ricard’s driver briefing on Friday evening, but no changes were made.
However, there was an overnight update on the track boundary restrictions, with the exit of Turn 6 being actively monitored for the remainder of the French GP weekend.
For leaving the track in the final practice and qualifying, drivers will be deleted lap times, and any violation will be counted towards their race score, which ultimately leads to a penalty after three hits.
On the opening day of the race on Friday, none of the drivers had their lap times deleted because they exceeded the route limit.
The track boundaries are also monitored by the FIA in turns 1-5 and the chicane in turn 8-9 on the back straight.
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