Formula 1
FIA clears up F1 grid penalty rules in wake of recent Monza chaos
The FIA has responded to the chaos surrounding grid penalties at this year’s Italian Grand Prix to make Formula 1’s rules clearer with immediate effect.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Oct 20, 2022, 12:59 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Motor racing’s governing body came under fire at Monza after it took almost four hours following qualifying for the final grid to be sorted in the wake of a host of penalties.
Fans were upset that they did not know what was going on, while some teams themselves were unsure about how things would finally shake out, as there was no formal regulation that explained in detail the process by which penalties were implemented.
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly took to Twitter to ask if anyone knew where he would be starting: “Can someone tell me in which position I will start tomorrow’s race?” he asked during the wait for the grid.
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto was one of several key F1 figures who later said the situation needed addressing.
“The reason why it took so long [to publish the grid] is that there are certainly different interpretations and the regulation is not clear enough," said Binotto.
"That's something we need to address certainly for the future – I think not only how we decide the grid position based on the penalties, I think the amount of penalties we got as well is too many.”
In the wake of the events at Monza, the FIA has now made changes to the F1 regulations to explain explicitly the process that will be undertaken to sort out the penalties.
Following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in London on Wednesday, the revised rules have already been put in to the 2022 sporting regulations.
While this will not speed up the process that the FIA undertakes to first publish a provisional grid, which can still take several hours on Saturday night as post-session scrutineering checks still need to take place, the clearer rules will at least allow teams and fans to work out the grid themselves in a straightforward manner.
What the new rules look like
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, arrive on the grid
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
The revised regulations, which are detailed in the grid element of F1's Sporting regulations for both sprint weekends and normal events, outlines how the penalties are handed out.
This explains in detail the new process that was introduced a few years ago that locks in drivers to grid drops, rather than continually shuffling drivers forward as happened in the past.
Here is what the new rules say in Article 42.2 about how the grid penalties are dealt with:
a) Classified drivers who have received 15 or less cumulative grid penalties will be allocated a temporary grid position equal to their Qualifying Classification plus the sum of their grid penalties. If two or more drivers share a temporary grid position, their relative order will be determined in accordance with their Qualifying Classification, with the slowest driver keeping their allocated temporary grid position, and the other drivers getting temporary grid positions immediately ahead of them.
b) Following the allocation of temporary grid positions to penalised drivers in accordance with (a), unpenalised classified drivers will be allocated any unoccupied grid position, in the sequence of their Qualifying Classification.
c) Following the allocation of grid positions to unpenalised classified drivers, penalised drivers with a temporary grid position, as defined in (a), will be moved up to fill any unoccupied grid position.
d) Classified drivers who have accrued more than 15 cumulative grid position penalties, or who have been penalised to start at the back of the grid, will start behind any other classified driver. Their relative position will be determined in accordance with their Qualifying Classification.
e) Unclassified drivers who have been permitted to participate by the Stewards will be allocated grid positions behind all the classified drivers. Their relative positions will be determined in accordance with Article 39.3 (b).
Read Also:
- FIA vows to publish F1 Japanese GP crane incident report
- Marko: De Vries should be AlphaTauri F1's team leader in 2023
- Singapore track changes to drop F1 lap time by up to 20 seconds
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article FIA vows to publish F1 Japanese GP crane incident report
Next article Marko: De Vries should be AlphaTauri F1's team leader in 2023
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Latest news
Lamborghini | Barcelona selected to host the 2027 Super Trofeo World Finals
Lamborghini Super Trofeo
LBST Lamborghini Super Trofeo
World Finals - Monza 2026
9 min
Lamborghini | Barcelona selected to host the 2027 Super Trofeo World Finals
F1 United States GP live commentary and updates - FP3
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
29 min
F1 United States GP live commentary and updates - FP3
Lamborghini World Finals | AM-LC Race 1: An unstoppable Lewandowski dominates to win Race 1
Lamborghini Super Trofeo
LBST Lamborghini Super Trofeo
World Finals - Monza 2026
2 h
Lamborghini World Finals | AM-LC Race 1: An unstoppable Lewandowski dominates to win Race 1
Why Cadillac F1 boss provoked fresh intrigue by dodging driver question
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
4 h
Why Cadillac F1 boss provoked fresh intrigue by dodging driver question
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe