F1 News: Drivers Hold Extensive Discussions With FIA On Rule Changes After USGP Fiasco

Saajan Jogia | Nov 29, 2024

Oct 19, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Oracle Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen (1) of Team Netherlands drives during the Sprint Race in the 2024 Formula One US Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Formula 1 drivers engaged in extensive discussions with the FIA, the sport's governing body, to review proposed rule changes in Qatar. The meeting primarily focused on refining overtaking regulations after drivers called for clearer guidelines following the controversial incidents at the United States Grand Prix between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, where Norris was handed a five-second penalty for overtaking outside track limits after being pushed off the track by Verstappen, who held the inside line.

The decision to consult drivers before the conclusion of the 2024 season was driven by the need to gather their input on proposed changes and assess them in real race situations. Following the in-depth discussions, updates to Formula 1's racing guidelines, particularly concerning attacking moves on inside lines, are expected.

The meeting extended to nearly an hour, as discussions delved into a wide array of racing scenarios and explored various ideas for potential improvements. Mercedes driver George Russell, who is also the director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, termed the meeting as productive overall. He said:

“It was pretty productive.

“I think we all agree that the guidelines, they don't need massive changes. I think they just need the odd sentence removed or adjusted.

“But I think everybody's clear with what happened in Austin, what should have been a penalty, what happened in Mexico [where Verstappen was sanctioned twice for his subsequent moves against Norris] was rightly penalised.  

“And generally speaking, over the course of the year, I think the decisions have been pretty good. It was just probably Austin that was the outlier. So, yeah, just fine tweaks.”

Revealing that the main discussion was about overtaking, Russell hinted that a rule could be scrapped shortly. He said:

“The main discussion was about overtaking."

“A lot of drivers are aligned that if you are the overtaking car on the inside, rule number one is you have to be able to stay on the circuit.

“If you're able to stay on the circuit, you are in your right to run the driver wide, as it has been for all of us since go-karting: if you're overtaking somebody on the inside, you've got the right to run them wide.”

He added:

“Right now there is a line of regulation that says the inside driver needs to leave room to the guy on the outside from the apex to the exit. [...] I think that's going to be getting binned off and I hope it's going to be from this weekend onwards.”

Verstappen suggested that the main problem was "the tracks that allow these kind of things. [...] If you have gravel, that actually stops you from doing things that – taking a bit more risk than normal.”

Russell added on that:

 “We also concluded that most of these issues are down to the circuits.

“We spoke about a number of the issues in Austin. I think a lot of the overtakes wouldn't have even been attempted had there been gravel there such as, Austria Turn 4 – the downhill right-hander. You're going to go in the gravel if you go in 1-2% over the limit.  

“Silverstone, at Stowe there was obviously a great race in a couple of years ago with Lewis [Hamilton] and Checo [Perez] and Charles [Leclerc, in 2022]. Ultimately everyone was off the track, but that's because the track allowed you.

“The circuits are the root cause and the guidelines are kind of like an interim fix that we need to agree on until we can get all of the circuits in a proper manner.”

When asked about rules for the car overtaking on the outside, Russell said:

“I think the overtaking rules on the outside will not be changing much and I don't think we've really seen much of a problem [with that].”