Just got a 9.8s penalty for outbraking myself and then coming back on track in spa (last chicane before finish on the GP layout). I got first a 0.3s penalty for just going off, without gaining anything. It was resolved while i was trying to find the way back to track. When i returned to track, it slapped me with 9.8s. I'm fairly sure i did not gain anything but i lost a place to someone not really even close to me. The fact that it slapped me the first penalty and then another that was highly different and quite large one suggest me that there is some kind of "zoning error" in that place. If you are using centerline waypoint with corridors (ala rFactor/race07 style), those can easily overlap each other and create exactly this kind of situation. If the maximum time penalty is 10s.. then i think i hit about the maximum, further evidence that it is a bug.
Pretty sure there's no strong response to your post, cause most leagues I know don't use flag rules (only visual) or cutting penalties for known reasons and have some guys/drivers doin their job as race control via start sighting and protests. Still best solution so far
The Devs are are continually re-evaluating the penalty system. It is, unfortunately, a more complex problem than most people realise.
Yup, i know something about this part and i have absolutely no solution. When the corner is tight enough it gets really hard to make the inside cutting idiot proof without making it too lenient. But it is still a problem and i reported it, "devs are working hard on it" is a boilerplate answer that means absolutely nothing I could've send the replay file but i'm about 100% certain it is known issue but how often it actually happens is not.
One would think that this is easy: Four wheels off the track while gaining time or distance = cutting. What makes it difficult?