Formula 1 drivers will this year be afforded more “leniency” from stewards in accordance with the FIA’s adjustment of its guidelines of on-track standards.
Last year saw a string of controversial incidents in which drivers received penalties which were subsequently deemed harsh.
A case in point was Carlos Sainz’s collision with Liam Lawson at the Dutch Grand Prix, in which the Williams driver was handed two penalty points on his Superlicense, which were later struck off after a successful appeal from the Grove-based squad.
Now, a driver will be given the benefit of the doubt by the “laws of physics”, when they lock up in an attempt to avoid contact with the car they are attempting to overtake.
The rules will now state that “dangerous, reckless, or apparently deliberate actions resulting in a collision or for other unacceptable or unsportsmanlike behaviour” will result in penalty points for a driver.
Another contentious element of the previous rules has been the ambiguity around drivers divebombing one another at a corner’s apex to ensure space.
This has been an area of additional interpretation and counter-interpretation, but the FIA has also clearly mapped its intentions on this front too, with the rules stating that when this happens, “the other car simply cannot disappear.”
The changes were triggered by a meeting between the FIA and drivers at last year’s Qatar Grand Prix, to ensure that going forward, there is a stronger sense of transparency and clarity on the rules.
Read the full list of changes to the guidelines here!
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