31/03/2023
NEWS STORY
Following the incident in Saudi Arabia the FIA has issued a technical directive clarifying the rules relating to pit stop penalties.
Consistent with the FIA's wish for a transparent approach, a thorough analysis was undertaken following the incident involving Fernando Alonso when serving his original time penalty and the subsequent stewards' decisions, specifically in relation to the penalty imposed on the Spaniard and the subsequent exercise of the right of review by his team.
This circumstance arose due to a lack of clarity in the wording of the relevant regulations and conflicting precedents, which were exposed by this specific incident. The rule itself had been a point of discussion at recent Sporting Advisory Committee's meetings, the forum in which the FIA, FOM and all the teams discuss and propose amendments to the F1 Sporting Regulations for approval and implementation in the FIA Formula One World Championship.
The review panel comprised representatives from a number of FIA departments including Race Control, Safety, Operations and Technical and members of the FIA Remote Operations Centre (ROC).
The two key measures which have been implemented as a result of the review are:
The issuance of a Sporting Directive to clarify the definition of what constitutes "working on the car" (Article 54.4.c of the F1 Sporting Regulations) and how the regulation will therefore be applied by the FIA at subsequent Competitions.
From this weekend's Grand Prix, neither mechanics nor equipment may be in contact with the car before it has served its penalty. For clarity and until further notice, in this context the physical touching of the car or driver by hand, tools or equipment (including the front and rear jacks) during any such penalty will all be considered to constitute work, the directive confirms.
However, the use of cooling fans during a penalty is permitted providing any such fan does not physically touch the car.
The widening of the starting grid boxes by 20cm from this weekend's Australian Grand Prix, as previously reported, while a centre line will also be trialled to aid drivers in positioning their cars correctly during Friday's Free Practice in Melbourne and pending feedback and discussion at the Drivers' Briefing may be implemented moving forward.
Additionally, several other elements are under discussion for potential further improvement. These include a review of other potential 'common practices' which may not be clearly defined or documented, and which may necessitate either a change of the Regulations or a Sporting Directive to avoid similar issues in the future, as well as consideration of the various procedures that lead to time delays in the event of late-race reports to the Stewards.
Check out our Friday gallery from Melbourne here.