FIA to change procedures following incidents in Japan

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21 October 2022 at 17:02
Last update 21 October 2022 at 18:39
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  • GPblog.com

The FIA has just announced that it will change some procedures, following what happened at the Japan Grand Prix. It will look at whether the regulations can be clearer in certain areas.

The FIA has been critical of the events during the Japan GP. Several drivers have raised concerns about the dangerous situation that arose during the race when a tractor came onto the track while drivers were still driving around the track. There are several main issues that the FIA will look into further.

No rotating race control

The first major change the FIA will make from the US Grand Prix onwards is that of rotating race control. Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas have alternated roles as race directors in 2022, but in the remaining four races, only Wittich will take the lead.

In addition, the FIA acknowledges that the tractor should have been on the track later. Especially in severe weather conditions, this should never have happened. Race control had not initially noticed Pierre Gasly, who fell behind and drove past the tractor at full speed, because of his pit stop. As a solution, there will be a dynamic virtual safety car, adjusting the delta speed of drivers in specific sectors where an incident has occurred. Together with the teams, they will look at penalties for drivers who do not comply with the rules around yellow flags, safety cars etc. Furthermore, teams will be clearly informed when recovery vehicles are on the track.

The performance of the full wets will also be further examined in meetings. Drivers have revealed that the wet tyres do not perform well in the rainy weather conditions. Consequently, in Japan, drivers refused to use those tyres. In addition, the FIA is going to check the roadside billboards. Gasly had to enter the pit lane because he did not see anything on the opening lap and drove into a sign. The use and construction of the advertising boards will be reviewed, as well as the location of the boards. In future, the signs should be prevented from tearing off and ending up on the track. As a final point, drainage of water on circuits will be checked.

Rules points scoring revised after Verstappen confusion

In the future, the FIA wants to avoid further confusion around point scoring. The rules for points in shortened races will be reworded to better reflect the original intention. In Japan, it was thought that fewer points would be handed out because of the shorter race, but in the end it turned out that Verstappen still had enough points to take his second title. Indeed, because the race was officially flagged off, full points were handed out.

FIA to amend regulations