After stopping at the end of the pit lane and obstructing their competitors last weekend in Mexico, Max Verstappen and George Russell escaped penalties; however, the FIA has since taken action to forbid such antics.
Following several drivers’ obstruction of the pit lane during last weekend’s qualifying for the Mexico Grand Prix, the FIA has tightened its penalties for impeding drivers.
Fernando Alonso, Max Verstappen, and George Russell were all under investigation for stopping at the end of the pit lane and obstructing their competitors from taking the lead. However, the stewards did not punish any of them.
The fact that drivers must maintain a minimum lap time between the safety car lines on the track during qualifying serves as an explanation for that choice. “Having the possibility of cars backing up in the pit lane or at the pit exit is preferable to the potentially hazardous scenario of significant speed disparities on the track,” the stewards declared.
Additionally, they expressed their happiness that Verstappen and Russell were behaving “in good faith.” However, they stated that moving forward, a “better solution” had to be discovered.
And the FIA has taken action in less than a week. Drivers will not be permitted to stop in the fast lane of the pits during qualifying at this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, preventing them from hindering their competitors in that way.
Race director Niels Wittich sent the teams pre-race event notes, which clearly state that drivers will face penalties if they are discovered to have held up their competitors during qualifying by stopping or slowing down in the fast lane without a valid reason.
“As per article 33.4 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations, drivers are not allowed to go unnecessarily slow, that includes stopping a car in the fast lane of the pitlane,” the document reads.
“During Shootout [for Saturday’s Sprint race] and Qualifying, drivers may create a gap between the pit exit lights and the SC2 line. Any driver who wishes to do so must drive as far to the left as possible to allow other drivers to pass them on the right side of the pit exit road.”
It comes after Martin Brundle called for intervention. “Perhaps [drivers] should be obliged to stop in the middle lane rather than the fast lane. However, there are two issues there, the cars wouldn’t then be spaced out particularly well on track, and some circuits like Monaco don’t have the space for a spare middle pit lane like that,” the Sky Sports pundit wrote.
“Teams at the far end of pit lane and drivers who have to leave and continue with their qualifying lap preparation do seem to be treated unfairly.” For the time being, I suppose we must clarify that it is a customary practice, allow the drivers and teams resolve their differences amicably, and search for a better course of action.”
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