F1 drivers warned over track limits abuse at Austin

In a note sent to the teams on Saturday morning, F1 race director Charlie Whiting explained that any driver running completely off track on the exit of the downhill left-hander of Turn 19 in qualifying will have their lap time deleted.

There was an additional warning regarding consistent abuse of the run-off area at the same corner during the race, which would risk the driver involved being reported to the stewards.

"If a driver crosses the kerb on the exit of Turn 19 during qualifying and, as a result, no part of the car remains in contact with the red and white section of the kerb, the lap time of the driver concerned will be deleted by the stewards," wrote Whiting.

"During the race, a black and white flag will be shown to any driver who clears the red and white section of the kerb three times - any further occurrence will then be reported to the stewards.

"Each time any car clears the red and white section, teams will be informed via the official messaging system."

Ahead of the weekend, F1 chiefs had moved to ease track limits issues on the inside of Turns 16 and 17 following the controversy surrounding Max Verstappen's last-lap overtake of Kimi Raikkonen at that section in 2018.

The FIA has installed two new kerbs to deter drivers from trying to again an advantage.