During the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, it was reported that teams had talked last week about changing a rule that caused some concerns.
Before, if a car moved before the race started, it was only considered a jump start if sensors on the cars detected it.
But sometimes, cars moved a bit before the start but were not punished because the sensors didn’t catch it.
An example of this happened with Lando Norris at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this year. He moved a little before the lights went out, but since the sensors didn’t notice it, he wasn’t penalized.
After discussions among team bosses and sporting directors, they agreed to make the rules stricter right away.
They changed Article 48 of F1’s Sporting Regulations. Now, a new rule called “False Start” explains how they will judge if a driver jumped the start.
The old rule that relied only on sensors to detect a jump start is gone.
Instead, the new rule says a driver will be in trouble if they move after the four-second light comes on but before the race officially starts.
This change was needed because there were other instances where drivers seemed to move before the lights went out but weren’t caught by the sensors.
For example, Valtteri Bottas in the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix and Sebastian Vettel in Japan in 2019 were not punished for similar incidents.
Another change in the regulations aims to get teams to use intermediate tires in rainy practice sessions.
During the Japanese Grand Prix last month, teams avoided using these tires in the rain because they didn’t want to waste them.
So, a new rule says if a practice session is wet, teams have to return one set of intermediate tires before qualifying.
This change doesn’t make it completely risk-free to run in the rain during practice, but it makes it less of a problem for the rest of the weekend.
