Formula 1
Formula 1 tightens up jump start rules
The FIA has published revised jump start rules for Formula 1 to avoid confusion over car movement not being detected by onboard sensors.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: May 1, 2024, 12:31 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
As revealed by Motorsport.com over the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, teams discussed last week a tweak to the regulations to clear up an aspect of the regulations that had caused unease.
Previously, jump starts were judged entirely on whether the FIA-supplied sensors fitted to cars had picked up movement before the start signal was given.
However, there had been some occasions when cars had appeared not to be stationary prior to the race starting but were not punished because the sensors gave them the all-clear.
The most recent famous example of this was Lando Norris at this year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, who moved forward briefly before stopping ahead of the lights going out. Although his actions were investigated by the stewards, it was decided that, since the sensor had not detected anything untoward, there were no grounds to sanction him.
Read Also:
Following discussions among sporting directors and team bosses at last week's F1 Commission meeting, it has now been agreed that the regulations will be tightened up with immediate effect.
A revised Article 48 of F1’s Sporting Regulations has been labelled “False Start” and lays out how rule breaches will now be judged.
The wording that previously stated jump starts would be determined by the findings of the transponder has been removed.
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Instead, a revised 48.1 a) of the Sporting Regulations states that an offence will be deemed to have taken place if a driver is judged to have: “moved after the four (4) second light is illuminated and before the start signal is given by extinguishing all red lights.”
While Norris’ movement in Saudi Arabia is the most recent example, several drivers have been picked up in recent years for having appeared to move before lights went out but not triggering the sensor.
Valtteri Bottas was cleared for a jump start in the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix, while one year earlier then Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel similarly escaped punishment in Japan.
Returning intermediate tyres
The revised sporting regulations that have been published by the FIA have also included a clause aimed at encouraging teams to use intermediate tyres in rain-hit practice sessions.
At the Japanese Grand Prix last month, a flaw in the current wet tyre rules meant that teams almost all steered clear of running in the rain-hit second free practice session because they did not want to burn through sets of inters that they may have needed later in the weekend.
This was a consequence of F1 removing a regulation that handed teams an extra set of inters that had to be returned to the FIA in the event of wet weather impacting practice.
While there is no return to teams being handed a completely free set of tyres, a tweak to the regulations does now state that if a practice session is declared wet, then one set of intermediates needs to be handed back before qualifying.
A new Article 30.5 g) states: “From the five (5) sets of intermediate tyres allocated to each driver under Article 30.2a)ii), if P1, P2 or P3 is declared wet, one (1) set of intermediate tyres must be electronically returned no later than two (2) hours after the end of P3.”
While this regulation does not go as far as meaning teams have nothing to lose by running in a wet practice session, it does at least minimise the downsides of any extra running impacting the rest of the weekend.
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 Guenther Steiner takes Haas F1 team to court
Next article Red Bull confirms Adrian Newey's departure
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
Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 4 h
Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal
Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
6 h
Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 6 h
Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
6 h
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
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