Last Updated on June 9 2025, 4:25 pm
There’s another new row brewing in Formula One and it’s over a knee jerk reaction taken by the FIA following the remarkable events in Abu Dhabi 2021. Whilst the reason for Lewis Hamilton losing the race and a record eighth F1 drivers’ title will be debated for ever, one thing was clear, race control wished to reduce the influence of the teams on their live deliberations during a race.
Following a late safety car being deployed following yet another Nicholas Latifi crash, both Red Bull and Mercedes lobbied incessantly race director Michael Massi on how he should manage the situation. The teams had badgered F1’s race director that year to let the drivers race to the finish when possible after two consecutive Bahrain Grand prix’s had finished under the safety car.
As an aside, Lewis Hamilton became the first F1 driver in history to win three F1 races which took the chequered flag during a safety car period. And so for 2022, the newly installed F1 race director, Neils Wittich decided to revise the guidelines to reduce the undue influence upon the race director which the teams sought to bring about.
F1 teams harass of race control
No longer would race control advise the teams whether to instruct their drivers to hand back a place which was gained illegally, now the teams must decide whether to voluntarily give back a place which may have been gained through an unfair advantage, and if failing to do so risked a time penalty from the stewards.
The problem which now arose was given the ‘normal’ penalty for gaining a position unfairly was a five second time penalty, something which if happens early in a race can be easily mitigated as seen by Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 British Grand Prix. Having taken out Verstappen on lap one, the British driver was deemed at fault by the stewards who accordingly issued the standard five second penalty.
This was to prove irrelevant as while Max visited the hospital after a 51g crash at Copse, Hamilton cruised home to victory in front of his adoring fans at the Northamptonshire circuit. During the 2022 season, confusion reigned over the new “voluntary” handing back of a place.
In Saudi Arabia, Sergio Perez gained an illegal advantage over Carlos Sainz. He was instructed by race control to return the place, he did so and no penalty was forthcoming. Similarly in Miami, George Russell gained an advantage over his team mate running off track. He was also instructed to give back the place by race control and suffered no penalty.
Inconsistent advice from race control
Then we had Pierre Gasly at the Mexican Grand Prix who passed Lance Stroll off track and forced him wide. No instruction was given to the team and Gasly retained his place before being hit with a five second time penalty. The stewards decision added further to the confusion by only addressing Gasly “leaving the track and gaining an advantage.” They did not investigate him forcing Stroll wide.
For the second year in a row, Lewis Hamilton missed turn seven at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, running off track whilst defending a move from Carlos Sainz. The team were told to rescind the place and obliged – no penalty was issued.
Despite Wittich apparent dictat which advised the teams race control would no longer be making these decisions, in the first three examples cited, they did offer advice when contacted by the teams. In Gasly’s case maybe Alpha Tuari did not ask the question and so this is why the Frenchman suffered a time penalty.
Since the confusion of 2022, the teams are now supposed to receive no guidance from race control and they alone make the decision whether a place has been gained improperly by their driver and tell him to act accordingly. Add into the mix that this season the penalty for failing to giveback a place gained illegally is now ten seconds, and the stakes have been raised.
New ten second penalty highlights the injustice
Again ten seconds early in a race for a front running car may well be a penalty worth taking as George Russell almost demonstrated in Monaco two races ago. The Mercedes driver remained stuck behind a Williams for the first stint of his race, which was then ruined. He then decided to use the chicane to make an illegal overtaking move to solve his conundrum.
The problem was he decided to do this late in the race and the ensuing ten second penalty meant he suffered disproportionally at the chequered flag, than had he made the clearly illegal move 25 laps earlier. Is this really the kind of options we wish to present to the F1 teams?
Then as Max Verstappen discovered a week later in Spain, a ten second penalty added to a late safety car closing up the field can be a disaster. The Red Bull driver finished P5 but his penalty dropped him all the way back to tenth in the final classification. And all this was the result of Red Bull telling Verstappen to give back a place, the FIA later adjudicated was necessary.
Christian Horner is now calling for a change in the ‘joke’ regulations which are applied inconsistently and are either inconsequential or at other times have huge implications for a driver’s final classified standing.
Horer ridicules FIA intentions
“What would be great is if the race director in that situation takes responsibility and says either effectively play on or you’ve taken advantage, you need to give up the advantage. That then gives the team a choice,” the Red Bull boss now claims. “We’re trying to second-guess what the Stewards may or may not think is partly difficult in the midst of it.”
When it was put to Horner the FIA took their current position to prevent teams from taking a 50/50 chance on ‘getting away with it”, Horner was scornful in his response. “But they’re doing that. That’s exactly what they’ve got.”
The question is simple. Do we currently have the best solution to the problem, or merely a reaction to the furore created by the hassle the race director received in Abu Dhabi way back in 2021? The solution is also simple, retain the rule which prevents the team’s from lobbying race control, but return to advice being given from the stewards to the teams, as to how the matter of an allegedly illegal move on track is decided
Maybe the injustice of a late safety car combined with the new looming ten second penalty is the reason this topic has reared its head once again, or maybe its time for F1’s policemen to do their job instead of relying on the competitors to make the decision for them.
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With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
