Track limits are becoming a proper headache at the US Grand Prix, and championship leader Kimi Antonelli has laid bare just how tricky things are getting at the Circuit of the Americas. During free practice sessions, stewards had to disallow around a dozen fast laps from various drivers for exceeding the track boundaries, with a staggering 207 track limit infringements recorded in total. It's the kind of chaos that takes drivers to the edge every single lap.

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The Italian Mercedes driver knows exactly what he's dealing with in Texas. Antonelli explained that the undulating nature of COTA makes it incredibly easy to find yourself off the tarmac in the blink of an eye. Factor in the unpredictable wind, which can catch you out spectacularly around certain corners, and you've got a recipe for disaster. Even the braking zones become a minefield, where one lock-up or a fraction too much pressure on the pedal sends you beyond the limits before you know what's happened.

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This isn't a new problem either. The issue has been building for years. Back in 2023 at the Austrian Grand Prix, stewards investigated over 1,200 track limit instances, eventually handing out penalties to eight drivers including Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who was demoted from fourth to sixth place. With 207 violations in just the practice sessions at Austin, it's clear the regulations need serious attention, especially heading into qualifying and the race itself.

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Antonelli and his rivals are navigating a fine line between extracting maximum pace and staying within the white lines. The championship leader himself spent his third practice session carefully calibrating the limits, hunting for those extra tenths without pushing so hard that he ends up in the stewards' office. It's a delicate dance that's consuming mental energy and lap time, making qualifying tomorrow even more unpredictable than usual.

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