FIA race director Michael Masi brushed off complaints about the drag strip run-off area which caused several crashes during the German Grand Prix.
Five drivers all went off between the final two corners with two, Charles Leclerc and Nico Hulkenberg, ending their race in the barrier.
The Monegasque called the different tarmac “dangerous” as the water didn’t drain and instead sat on top, creating grip levels akin to an ice rink, but Masi insists there was no issue.
“The drag strip looks fine,” he said via Crash.net. “We inspected it the other day and had a look again post-race with the water on it. It is fine.
“Even Sebastian [Vettel] is quoted as saying that it is normally one of the grippiest parts of the track and it is no different to any of the other painted run-off, to be quite honest.
“I think it was one of those ones where if you put water on painted run-off then, as much as you can do anything to make sure it is anti-slip paint, it is still more slippery than unpainted tarmac.”
There was another simple argument to those complaining about the lack of grip off the track, don’t use it!
“Correct. It is called track limits controls!” Masi added.
“They may claim it is too dangerous but from our end, using Austria as the example, the drivers were all quite pleased with it, even with the bumps and that.
“It punishes them for making mistakes and it was very similar here. It’s one of those sorts of venues.
“We saw the other implementation we had to do regarding Turn 1 with the track limits side. You are balancing it to a degree, but credit where it is due, all 20 drivers have been very consistent in their views that if they run off the track there should be consequences for doing it.
“Maybe straight after the race they might have a different view with the way it has affected them but sitting down with them individually and as a group, that has been their consistent view and it hasn’t changed.”
