For years, Formula 1 has been striving for a clear, consistent and predictable interpretation of the rules. Efforts that were intensified again after the final farce in Abu Dhabi 2021. The consequences of this were a little too noticeable in Austria. Penalties for aggressive maneuvers, track limit violations despite gravel beds, it’s slowly becoming too much for the drivers.
“I still don’t understand my penalty from Saturday, to be honest,” says a frustrated Nico Hülkenberg. He braked very late and overtook Fernando Alonso in a sprint, forcing the Aston Martin off the track. 10 seconds, two penalty points. When Lando Norris attempted an almost identical maneuver against Max Verstappen a good 28 hours later, nobody intervened.
“I think the stewards overreacted a few times,” says Hülkenberg. After the tough duel between Norris and Max Verstappen in the Grand Prix, the issue really came into focus. Because everyone in the paddock actually agrees: none of it was worthy of a penalty. Neither Verstappen’s slight movement towards the braking zone, nor the jostling against Norris at the side of the track, which ultimately led to a collision.
New Formula 1 regulations not as successful as hoped?
Formula 1 has had detailed racing rules since 2022. An ever-growing document specifies, for example, how far off the mark a car must be at the apex to be entitled to space. It should actually be there to eliminate the subjectivity of the ever-changing stewards.
Based on these (supposedly) clear rules, race management and stewards have been required to take uncompromising action since 2021. No more discretionary decisions. This directive also meant that a gravel bed trip or a failed attack could be counted as a track limit violation. Although in both cases the “offender” did not gain any advantage by driving out. His scenario even resulted in a five-second penalty for Lando Norris in Austria.
The drivers are even more convinced after Austria no longer does this. “They wanted to say it was constant and we don’t use the impact as a penalty factor, but that obviously doesn’t work,” says Alex Albon. “In many cases, things are strictly interpreted as borderline or not legal. But if there is no contact, then it is often not discussed. Or there is a warning. No penalty.”
In slow motion, every Formula 1 penalty is easy…
In return, every incident involving contact is completely picked apart. This threatens to become unnecessarily complex and disproportionate for actions that usually have no malicious intent. “It’s so hard to be perfect to the millimetre when there are so many factors, so people just make mistakes,” says Daniel Ricciardo. “If you see it in super slow motion, you’ll quickly find something.”
But Formula 1 is not driven in super slow motion. “It all happens so quickly,” explains Nico Hülkenberg. “You start, the other reacts, you react, it all happens within a thousandth of a second. We all know the rules, of course we are all looking out for our own advantage, pushing the limits, going into grey areas. But you don’t actively think about it. It just happens.”
The best racing drivers in the world cannot be expected to avoid grey areas and leave room for maneuver when it comes to Grand Prix victories. That is not how the sport works. “Otherwise you will never become a top driver,” says Max Verstappen plainly speaking. That’s how unfortunate accidents happen, incidents like the one involving Norris and Verstappen in Austria.
There is now a growing opinion among drivers at Silverstone that the restrictive racing manual should be thrown out the window. “When I started, it was very simple – part of a car is next to you and you have to leave one car width of space,” says Lance Stroll. “Now it’s rocket science. Where is the front wing relative to the rear-view mirror. If you’re on the outside, you’re only entitled to space if your wing is in front of his wing. It gets extremely complicated.”
Formula 1 2024 overloaded with rules: Just all of them gone?
It’s not just the racing rules that are becoming frustrating. For over a year, the regulations on minimum and maximum lap times in qualifying have been increasing, which only pushes the prevalent slow-driving problem from one place to another. “We can’t do anything about it,” complains Fernando Alonso. “It’s probably over-regulated. And we drivers, and teams too, are sometimes frustrated by it.”
Kevin Magnussen advocates a radical change in Silverstone: all rules gone. “At the end of the day, you want to finish, take care of the car. That stops the drivers from doing anything too crazy.” He points to Verstappen and Norris as examples, who paid for their aggressiveness with tire damage. And to motorsport in the USA, where this principle prevails: “It’s reminiscent of the karting days, where there were no specific rules. Everything worked naturally. And the racing was great.”
“We all have to find a solution,” warns Fernando Alonso. “We cannot leave the FIA alone. We have to propose something that is better than the current rule book, and this must be done by mutual agreement.” Alonso is already involved here. He publicly supports the world association’s efforts to formulate uniform “Driving Standard Guidelines”. These should apply to all racing series and guide drivers and officials.
According to Spielberg, Alonso also underlined a problem with the penalty points that are handed out for almost every offense. For him, these points are purely for dangerous actions: “Mistakes will always happen. What I don’t understand is where the danger is supposed to be. There is no danger there. We are undermining the incentive to try an overtaking maneuver. Because if you make a mistake, you get penalty points.”
The solution to all this may take some time. In the short term, the drivers can voice their complaints to the race management at the Friday driver briefing. Some are already trembling at the thought of a mammoth meeting lasting several hours. But there have already been many of those, recalls Max Verstappen: “I don’t know how much will be changed. We’ll see.”