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Many wondered why Pecco Bagnaia’s time from his last lap in the Q2 wasn’t cancelled, even if he rode over the track limit. The explanation is simple: because the world champion didn’t gain an advantage from that maneuver. In fact, he lost time. And who decided that? In this case, we have to refer to the Stewards’ protocol for deciding on the track limits (see below).
The general rule is that, in practice or qualifying, anyone who exceeds the track limits will have their time cancelled, regardless of whether they lost or gained time. To understand who’s crossing the limit, there are sensors installed in the green-painted areas : only ones where it’s sure that they have an advantage if they ride over them. The other areas aren’t painted green, because there’s a disadvantage riding on those.
In fact, Bagnaia rode over ... the red. To put it another way, Pecco completely missed the trajectory of the corner and going over the curb wasn’t an advantage at all. This was demonstrated by the fact that, in the middle of the third sector, he was 0”108 ahead of Martin’s best time while, on the finish line, his delay was 0”139. He then lost about 2 tenths because of that mistake, and risked every chance to get a pole position.
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