FIA sets rules for pit penalties

The International Automobile Federation had work to do after studying in detail the first two Grands Prix of the season, in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. After announcing that the places would be widened on the starting grid in Australia, or even for the rest of the season if the solution is convincing, in order to avoid bad placements at the start, it clarified its rules concerning the penalties suffered in the stalls. A decision taken following the imbroglio around Fernando Alonso in Saudi Arabia. The Spanish driver was in fact initially deprived of third place due to a ten-second penalty imposed because he had not correctly served his first five-second penalty (for not positioning himself correctly on the starting grid, precisely).

During the penalty, an Aston Martin mechanic had indeed lifted the single-seater with his “jack”, and the marshals had considered that the penalty had not been properly served, considering that with the “jack”, there had been work done on the car. The team leaders managed to prove that penalties had already been served in this way in the past, without this giving rise to a new penalty, and Alonso had recovered his third place.

The FIA ​​recognizes a lack of clarity

“This circumstance is due to a lack of clarity in the wording of the relevant regulations and conflicting precedents, which have been revealed by this specific incident, recognizes the FIA. The rule itself had been a point of discussion during recent meetings of the Sporting Advisory Committee, the forum in which the FIA, FOM and all teams discuss and propose amendments to the F1 Sporting Regulations for approval and implementation in the FIA ​​Formula 1 World Championship ». The international body therefore announced this Friday that from the Australian Grand Prix this Sunday, the slightest contact with a single-seater, whether with the hand, an air pistol or a “jack” will cause the non-validation of the penalty. The driver will therefore incur another penalty. Things are now clear.