{"id":154377,"date":"2025-09-19T07:11:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T07:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/154377\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T07:11:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T07:11:10","slug":"what-are-f1s-driving-guidelines-and-why-is-everyone-talking-about-them-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/154377\/","title":{"rendered":"What are F1’s driving guidelines and why is everyone talking about them again?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Probably the most important thing you need to know about Formula 1\u2019s Driving Standards Guidelines<\/a> is written in a bold typeface, with selective capitalisation, at the top of the document: \u201cThese are GUIDELINES and NOT REGULATIONS\u201d.<\/p>\n

This cuts to the essence of the difficulty in giving clarity to drivers and stewards alike of what is acceptable conduct on track and what isn\u2019t. To list every possible circumstance and an appropriate outcome would require a document the size of an old-fashioned telephone directory rather than five pages of words and diagrams.<\/p>\n

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Instead, the guidelines establish when a driver is entitled to \u201cracing room\u201d while overtaking on the inside or outside of a corner, plus various elements of etiquette such as impeding or driving erratically, and what is acceptable positioning while running behind the safety car.<\/p>\n

Nuances such as moving on the straight or moving under braking are also covered. For instance, moving on the straight to break the slipstream to a pursuing car \u201cmay be acceptable\u201d but depends upon \u201crelative speeds and position on the track\u201d.<\/p>\n

They also clarify track limits and what happens when a car leaves the track: how fast it can go, the manner in which it must rejoin, and what happens if drivers gain an advantage by leaving the track.<\/p>\n

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George Russell is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association\"George<\/p>\n

George Russell is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association<\/p>\n

Who drew up the guidelines and how long have they been in force?<\/p>\n

The FIA introduced the guidelines ahead of the 2022 season in consultation with the Grand Prix Drivers\u2019 Association (GPDA). They have been through several evolutions.<\/p>\n

They were revised for 2025 \u2013 and are now on Version 4.1 \u2013 after a number of controversial incidents late last season, such as when George Russell<\/a> was penalised for running Valtteri Bottas<\/a> off the track at Turn 1 while passing him in the US GP<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Perhaps more germane to the championship outcome, high-profile \u2018moments\u2019 between Lando Norris<\/a> and Max Verstappen<\/a> in the US and Mexico City Grands Prix<\/a> brought driving standards to the top of the agenda. The FIA met with the GPDA ahead of last year\u2019s Qatar GP<\/a> to improve and clarify the wording of the guidelines.<\/p>\n

It was felt the original stipulation that the driver whose front axle was ahead at the apex essentially \u2018owned\u2019 the corner was too easily exploited \u2013 one only had to make an opportunist dive in attack, or release the brakes early in defence, to \u2018game\u2019 the outcome.<\/p>\n

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, leads Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38\"Max<\/p>\n

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, leads Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38<\/p>\n

What are the guidelines and what has changed?<\/p>\n

While the introduction to the guidelines emphasises that some subjectivity is inevitable, the key points exist to establish when an overtaking car is entitled to be given \u201cpriority\u201d, i.e. room to complete the manoeuvre. They also make it clear that when these conditions are satisfied it becomes \u201cthe responsibility of the defending driver to avoid a collision\u201d.<\/p>\n

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The wording on relative positions of the cars is now different depending on whether the attacking driver is looking to overtake on the inside or outside. On the inside line, the overtaking car must \u201chave its front axle at least alongside the mirror of the other car prior to and at the apex\u201d and \u201cbe driven in a fully controlled manner particularly from entry to apex, and not have \u2018dived in\u2019\u201d. The overtaker must also have \u201ctaken a reasonable racing line and been able to complete the move while remaining within track limits\u201d.<\/p>\n

The first set of guidelines also included a stipulation that the overtaking driver had to leave space for the other at the exit \u2013 this was what caught Russell out in Austin. It was struck out because the drivers argued it was too prescriptive, and unnecessary provided the cars were under control.<\/p>\n

The first high-profile casualty of the new wording here was Max Verstappen in Saudi Arabia this year: Oscar Piastri<\/a> went up the inside into Turn 1, was deemed under control and clearly had his front wheels ahead of Verstappen\u2019s mirrors before the apex, so as far as the guidelines were concerned the corner was his. Neither did he have to leave room for the other car.<\/p>\n

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Verstappen went over the run-off and rejoined still in the lead \u2013 the guidelines define this as having \u201cgained a lasting advantage\u201d and \u201cgenerally, the position should be given back\u201d. The Dutchman didn\u2019t and was penalised.<\/p>\n

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team, Carlos Sainz, Williams, Alexander Albon, Williams\"Oliver<\/p>\n

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team, Carlos Sainz, Williams, Alexander Albon, Williams<\/p>\n

The guidelines relating to overtaking around the outside explicitly acknowledge that this is \u201ca more difficult manoeuvre to accomplish\u201d. But, it also states clearly that the overtaking car must have its front axle ahead of the other car\u2019s front axle at the apex, \u201cbe driven in a controlled manner from entry, to apex, to exit\u201d, and must be able \u201cto make the corner within track limits\u201d.<\/p>\n

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In the Italian Grand Prix<\/a>, Oliver Bearman<\/a> was penalised for colliding with Carlos Sainz<\/a> when the Williams<\/a> driver tried to pass him around the outside at the Variante della Roggia chicane. Under the guidelines, Sainz had fulfilled the conditions so the onus was on Bearman to not hit him.<\/p>\n

In chicanes and S-bends the guidelines for inside and outside apply for each element of the complex, but \u201cgenerally, priority will be given to the first corner element\u201d.<\/p>\n

What about different tyre ages and compounds?<\/p>\n

The guidelines say \u201cthe stewards will always look at how the situation played out in total when reviewing an incident\u201d because \u201cracing is a dynamic process\u201d. They go on to list a series of examples that isn\u2019t exhaustive, but includes the kind of circumstances and variables that must be considered.<\/p>\n

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These include not only tyre age, compound choice and available grip, but also whether the configuration of the corner contributed to the incident as well as the approach of the drivers.<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Five key talking points from the FIA’s Formula 1 racing guidelines <\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The FIA’s F1 guidelines for penalties and points in full <\/a><\/p>\n

When assessing driver input, the stewards will consider the nature of the move \u2013 such as whether it was \u201coptimistic\u201d \u2013 and how the cars were being driven in the run-up to and during the incident.<\/p>\n

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For instance, when Williams sought a \u2018right of review\u2019 over Carlos Sainz\u2019s penalty from last month\u2019s Dutch GP, the FIA ultimately struck out the penalty \u2013 but only because Liam Lawson<\/a> had a momentary bout of oversteer, which caused the contact. The stewards\u2019 finding maintained that Sainz hadn\u2019t fulfilled the conditions required to be given \u2018right to room\u2019.<\/p>\n

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Probably the most important thing you need to know about Formula 1\u2019s Driving Standards Guidelines is written in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,3020,578,576,577,3024,81356,4757,591,1885,82],"class_list":["post-154377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-carlos-sainz","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-george-russell","tag-grand-prix-drivers-association-2","tag-guidelines","tag-lando-norris","tag-max-verstappen","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}