The FIA has issued an update to Formula 1 regulations in response to two controversial incidents that took place during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend in April.
Both incidents involved Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. During the sprint race on Saturday, he was hit by Fernando Alonso who was subsequently handed a 10-second penalty for causing the collision.
The Aston Martin subsequently retired from the race before serving the penalty. Normally that would mean it would carry over to the next race but as this happened in a sprint rather than a Grand Prix, this didn't apply here.
In the second incident of the weekend, Sainz himself spun in qualifying and briefly came to a halt on the start-finish straight. He was subsequently able to get going and continue to take part in the session.
This time it was Aston Martin who protested, on the basis of the rules saying that "“Any driver whose car stops on the track during the qualifying session or the sprint qualifying will not be permitted to take any further part in that session."
The protest was denied, but stewards agreed that the situation and wording of the rules had been unclear and needed to be clarified as soon as the governing body could look into the matter.
The FIA has now issued new revisions to the rules to address both matters. In the first instance, unserved penalties issued in a sprint race are now allowed to be carried over to the next Grand Prix.
“If any penalties above are imposed upon a driver, and that driver is unable to serve the penalty due to being unclassified in the sprint session or the race [or] due to retirement from the sprint session or the race [then] the stewards may impose a grid place penalty on the driver at their next race."
As for the latter incident, the new rules state: “Any driver whose car stops in any area other than the pit lane during the qualifying session or the sprint qualifying session and receives physical assistance will not be permitted to take any further part in that session.”
The new regulations mean that cars that are able to get underway under their own power will be permitted to continue in qualifying sessions per the updated sporting regulations, confirming that Sainz’s action at the time was legal.
While that suggests that Sainz shouldn't have been allowed to continue in qualifying in Shanghai under the regulations in effect at the time, it does meant that everyone is clear regarding what can and can’t be done in future.
In other tweaks, the FIA also made a change to the sporting regulations about what happens in the event of a red flag where the entrance to the pits is blocked and cars are unable to return top their garage.
“In exceptional circumstances, for reasons of safety the pit entry may be closed before cars have returned to the pit lane,” the new rules state. “In such circumstances all cars must proceed slowly to the starting grid.
"The first car to arrive on the grid should occupy pole position and others should fill the remaining grid positions in the order they arrive," adding that the remainder of red flag procedures were unchanged except for being relocated ot the grid where the cars were stationed, instead of the pit fast lane.
All the changes to the sporting regulations have been duly rubber stamped with the approval of the FIA World Motorsport Council to make them official.
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