FIA debuted stricter yellow flag rules in Monaco

At final Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, Formula One’s governing physique, the FIA launched stricter pace restrictions in sections the place doubled waved yellow flag had been proven.

Following a radical analysis and evaluate of earlier incidents, FIA has made one other vital step to boost security in Formula One on final Sunday by introducing stricter pace restrictions.

According to the FIA International Sporting Code, double waved yellow flags are proven when there “is a hazard wholly or partly blocking the track and/or marshals working on or beside the track.” Under such situations, vehicles are compelled to cut back their pace considerably and overtaking is forbidden.

In case of a security automobile or digital security automobile interval, drivers additionally want to stick to a delta time that’s proven on the show. This implies that they’ve to remain above the delta time with the dashboard indicating a damaging or optimistic worth. The latter implies that they’re slower than the utmost common pace.

However, at important locations the place marshal work on the monitor or rescue stricken vehicles, drivers are allowed to drive on the similar pace as at locations with none hazard. Moreover, if a driver is over the delta time, he can regain time by growing his pace even in important locations.
The governing physique has performed a radical evaluate of earlier incidents and got here to the conclusion that instant change was wanted.

From final weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix drivers are required to fulfill a set most pace restrict in areas the place double yellow flags are being displayed. While the Monaco Grand Prix is a venue the place incidents usually occur, there was no security automobile or digital security automobile this time round, that means that the FIA couldn’t assess the brand new restriction.

FIA Technical Director Tim Goss commented: “What we need to do is to supply drivers with a device to assist them throughout incidents and to make races even safer.

“For some years with the Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car we’ve got used delta occasions, a reference to a pace restrict that we’ve got across the monitor. So, when there’s a bodily or digital security automobile, the drivers are knowledgeable of that delta time on their dashboard show and by radio tones and so they have to keep up a optimistic worth, that means they’re slower than the reference time for the lap. However, there are events the place vehicles can legitimately quickly enhance their pace to get well any time they’ve misplaced relative to this reference time.

“What we want to do now is to extend the use of the delta time concept to ensure that cars are strictly slowed to the required delta time when double waved yellow flags are shown under a Virtual Safety Car or Safety Car, so we are introducing a dedicated reference speed limit in the area where those flags are displayed,” concluded Goss, who took over his new function throughout the FIA firstly of this yr after FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem had made important adjustments to the governing physique’s F1 construction.

FIA Head of F1 Electronics Olivier Hulot explains how the drivers will see that the restriction is lively: “Under a Virtual Safety Car, when a driver enters the double yellow, what he sees on the dashboard is zero, so the delta time resets, and he then has to drive below the new speed limit. And he again gets a positive or negative delta relative to that speed limit. So it’s the same principle as before, except that it’s specific to a double yellow zone.”

“We have already brought in a system of warnings for yellow and double yellow. The driver gets a warning in the marshalling sector ahead of the yellow or the double yellow. That has been successful already and will help with the new system.”

The new restriction may result in a time loss for vehicles if there may be solely a short interval of double yellows and a few of their rivals keep away from this part. However, Hulot thinks that security ought to get pleasure from precedence.

“Loss of performance relative to others – if a car goes through a double yellow, but not another one and that car has to slow down, it is losing time relative to rivals. However, for the FIA safety is paramount and when there is a hazard on the track or marshals on track then we have to minimise the risks no matter what.”