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The FIA has told Formula 1 drivers that getting alongside another car ahead of a safety car restart, as Max Verstappen has done for three races in a row, will no longer be permitted.
In the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the first two rounds of the 2022 season, Verstappen has drawn alongside the lead car prior to the race resuming.
He did it on the right-hand side of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes ahead of their final-lap shootout for the 2021 title and even briefly overtook him, which formed part of Mercedes’ protest into the controversial outcome of the race and championship.
Then in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia this year, Verstappen positioned his car next to Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari ahead of safety car restarts.
In Bahrain he did it on the inside on the run to the final corner, which actually compromised his own exit and left Leclerc in the clear.
In Saudi Arabia Verstappen was more clever, going to the outside of Leclerc heading into the final hairpin – although Leclerc was still able to hold the lead at the restart.
On Saturday at the Australian Grand Prix, FIA race director Niels Wittich issued updated event notes that included a diagram of various car positions (shown below).
The note stresses a part of Article 55.14 of the sporting regulations that states: “In order to avoid the likelihood of accidents before the safety car returns to the pits, from the point at which the lights on the car are turned out drivers must proceed at a pace which involves no erratic acceleration or braking nor any manoeuvre which is likely to endanger other drivers or impede the restart.”
It is therefore likely that pulling alongside another car is considered a violation of “manoeuvre” part of that rule.
As the diagram shows, the FIA has stressed that only being behind another car will be considered acceptable.
If a driver still wants to move to the side, they may, but drawing alongside to any degree will not be allowed.
