Formula 1 drivers who gain an advantage by veering off the designated track will face a different consequence than the widely criticized and inadequate five-second penalty that has become the norm. The FIA stewards have a variety of potential penalties at their disposal for drivers involved in incidents, but there has been a tendency to default to the same five-second time penalty for a range of infractions. This penalty must either be served at the driver’s next pit stop or added to their overall race time if they do not make another pit stop after receiving the penalty. However, many drivers and observers consider this punishment to be insufficient and easily offset, particularly when a faster car commits an offense against a slower car.
In an effort to address this issue, a specific example will be changed for this season. If a driver goes off track to gain a position, they will now face a 10-second penalty. Although there was no relevant incident in the recent F1 season opener in Bahrain, this penalty was imposed during the first Formula 3 support race when Luke Browning overtook off-track and received a 10-second time penalty. This change comes after extensive discussions with the drivers regarding racing guidelines, including a meeting in Mexico last year following a controversial move by George Russell in the United States Grand Prix sprint race.
Russell’s deliberate off-track overtake of Piastri in the sprint race highlighted the need for a more substantial penalty. Russell had previously expressed his belief that the rules made it worthwhile to gain track position at a low cost. With no consequences for his actions, he continued to take advantage of illegal overtakes at the Italian Grand Prix and in Austin. Fernando Alonso has also been known to abuse the rules for personal gain. It was widely acknowledged by the drivers that the five-second penalty was not a sufficient deterrent. Alex Albon, who experienced a divebomb from Sergio Perez in Singapore and witnessed a similar incident in Japan, argued that this lack of concern from drivers demonstrated the need for stricter penalties.
While the justification for the consistent use of in-race penalties has been to align with previous decisions for similar incidents, there has been a long-standing argument for stewards to utilize the full range of penalty options available to them. These options include a five-second time penalty, a 10-second time penalty, a drive-through penalty, a 10-second stop-and-go time penalty, a time penalty at the stewards’ discretion, a reprimand, a grid penalty, disqualification, or suspension from the next competition. By regularly selecting different penalties and applying them, drivers would be less inclined to exploit the system.
Although the 10-second penalty will now replace the five-second penalty as the preferred punishment for going off track and gaining an advantage, it remains unclear if this will also apply to other incidents such as causing a collision or repeatedly exceeding track limits, which typically result in a five-second penalty. These cases may be treated on an individual basis.