What you need to know about F1’s tweaked penalty and driving standards

The FIA has published an updated version of Formula 1’s driving standards guidelines following recent controversies.

F1’s guidelines for driving standards - as well as a document covering penalties - was first made available publicly last June in a bid to promote transparency and understanding.

The governing body stresses that these are exactly what they claim to be; guidelines and not regulations.

Controversies over driver penalties last season brought the document, which effectively lays out when a driver is entitled to “racing room”, under fresh scrutiny.

Following a consultation with the drivers in Qatar, the driving standards guidelines were amended to “align with the objectives expressed by the drivers and the GPDA" (Grand Prix Drivers’ Association).

One of the main changes is the stewards will no longer impose penalty points other than for “dangerous, reckless or apparently deliberate actions resulting in a collision or for unacceptable or unsportsmanlike behaviour”.

This became a talking point at last year’s Dutch Grand Prix when Carlos Sainz was initially handed two penalty points on top of a 10-second time penalty for colliding with Liam Lawson.

Williams lodged a right of review and successfully managed to get the two penalty points rescinded.

From now on, the revised wording suggests such incidents would not result in penalty points being added to a driver’s superlicence.

This is good news for Haas’ Ollie Bearman, who is the F1 driver closest to picking up a race ban.

Bearman is two points away from triggering an automatic race suspension, with his next points not expiring until the end of May.

Driving standards guidelines changes

More flexibility will now be exercised by the stewards in imposing the driving standards guidelines.

This comes after Oscar Piastri’s penalty for his clash with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix caused a particular stir.

Four new caveats have been added for the stewards to consider and apply when judging incidents.

They are:

1. A car being overtaken, or performing an overtake, cannot simply “disappear”.
2. A lock up or small steering correction do not necessarily imply a driver has lost control
3. An apparent temporary loss of control, or a lock up, may be due to an attempt to avoid a collision, or simply the “laws of physics”.
4. The apex may vary depending on the racing line taken and/or the nature of the corner itself.

To be entitled to be given room when overtaking on the inside, the overtaking driver must:

1. Have its front axle AT LEAST ALONGSIDE THE MIRROR of the other car PRIOR TO AND AT THE APEX
2. Be driven in a fully controlled manner particularly from entry to apex and not have “dived in”.
3. In the Stewards’ estimation, have taken a reasonable racing line and been able to complete the move whilst remaining within track limits.

To be entitled to to be given room when overtaking on the outside, the overtaking driver must:

1. Have its front axle AHEAD OF THE FRONT AXLE of the other car AT THE APEX.
2. Be driven in a controlled manner from entry, to apex, and to exit.
3. Be able to make the corner within track limits.

Clarity over yellow and blue flags

After a push for more clarity over the rules under yellow and blue flag conditions, new guidelines have been provided.

The stewards will now consider the following eight points when investigating yellow flag infringements:

1. The onus rests with the driver to demonstrate a sufficient reduction of speed to satisfy the rules.
2. The extent of speed reduction considered acceptable may vary depending on the conditions and visibility of and through the incident.
3. The requirement that a driver be prepared to stop in the case of double waved yellow flags means that the speed reduction must be significantly and noticeably greater than in the case of a single waved yellow flag.
4. In evaluating compliance with the rules, the stewards will pay close attention to the extent of driver input (throttle pedal, brake pedal, steering angle) prior to and through the incident location.
5. It will be up to the driver to demonstrate to the stewards, via the “driver input” referred to above or by the method below, that they have complied with the regulations.
6. One method of demonstrating compliance (but not the only method) would be, in the case of a single waved yellow flag, an increase in the time taken to traverse the flag sector, of at least 5% compared to the driver’s previous lap(s) under similar conditions.
7. Similarly, one method of demonstrating a significant reduction of speed and preparedness to stop (again, not the only method) would be, in the case of double waved yellow flags, an increase in the time taken to traverse the flag sector, of at least 15% compared to the driver’s previous lap(s) under similar conditions.
8. viii) In considering what is a lap under ‘similar conditions’ the sttewards will take into account tyre compound, tyre condition, fuel load, energy deployment and weather conditions.
9. Any car losing control under a yellow flag or double yellow flag will usually be investigated.

You can read the full updated version of the stewards guidelines for driving standards and penalties here.