Formula 1 Abu Dhabi GP
Norris: F1 pit exit overtaking ban a "terrible rule" as drivers ask for rethink
Lando Norris thinks Formula 1's move to stop overtaking at pit exit is a "terrible rule" but one that is needed because of the maximum outlap times.
Filip Cleeren
Edited: Nov 26, 2023, 11:18 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Drivers are not allowed to drive slower than a certain delta time between safety car lines two and one, which covers everything but the pit area, to avoid dangerous situations in which cars approach each other at wildly different speeds.
At recent races that meant drivers were using the pitlane and pit exit instead to leave a gap to the car in front and get clean air for their qualifying lap, while still having the space to warm up their tyres.
In Abu Dhabi that led to issues at Yas Marina Circuit's tunnelled pit exit that crosses over to the other side of the track, with drivers effectively blocking each other and Red Bull's Max Verstappen squeezing past the Mercedes cars in Friday practice in the narrow lane.
The FIA responded by banning drivers from overtaking each other before the end of pit exit unless the car in front has an "obvious issue".
Norris thinks the bandaid fix just creates more issues and hopes the FIA will walk back its outlap rule changes.
"No, I think it is a terrible rule," he said when quizzed by Motorsport.com on whether or not the new rule had worked.
"The thing is they have to have the rule, because of the other silly rule that they made us do.
"If there's a red flag and three minutes left, there's going to be like three cars who get to do a lap so...I don't know. We should just go back to the way it was before."
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri AT04
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso said the rule further proves that a rethink of the qualifying rules is needed as he feels they detract from the thrill of extracting one lap of pure performance out of the cars.
"I think it didn't change much, but it proves that the qualifying format is obsolete," he said.
"We cannot have these things and this stress. It used to be the best session of the weekend, where the cars come alive, you drive these very fast cars.
"And now it's the worst session of the weekend for the teams, for drivers, for traffic management, for track limits, going to the stewards, not respecting the delta, impeding people, deleting the laps is...
"We are all happy that it's over. And it should not be like that."
World champion Max Verstappen agreed that a better solution is needed, but said drivers agreed to the change in the drivers' briefing just to avoid a repeat of Friday's incidents.
"Us drivers agreed to that in the briefing, to have that. Otherwise I think you would have seen again what happened yesterday [Friday]," he said.
"At the moment nothing is perfect yet, so we have to come up with a better solution but we'll keep on thinking about what that is."
Additional reporting by Ronald Vording
Read Also:
Formula 1Norris says he is doing a "shit job" in F1 qualifying sessions
Formula 1Russell: "Scrappy" F1 2023 "one of the worst seasons of my career"
Formula 1Alpine lacked "enthusiasm" and "drive" to progress in F1 - Fry
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 Marko says he should have known better, after losing 500 euro Verstappen F1 bet
Next article Hamilton: Mercedes "more inconsistent than ever" in F1 Abu Dhabi qualifying
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Filip Cleeren
Inside the competition building F1’s future engineering talent
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Inside the competition building F1’s future engineering talent
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Formula 1
Formula 1
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
More from
Lando Norris
Lando Norris faces anxious wait as F2 prepares to decide future of his racing team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Lando Norris faces anxious wait as F2 prepares to decide future of his racing team
Why McLaren cannot fix its F1 car handling until 2027
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Why McLaren cannot fix its F1 car handling until 2027
Latest news
FIA expects F1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to continue as planned
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
3 h
FIA expects F1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to continue as planned
TDS Racing doubles down on IMSA program with two-car LMP2 return
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 3 h
TDS Racing doubles down on IMSA program with two-car LMP2 return
Why Isack Hadjar doesn’t like F1 sprints anymore
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
3 h
Why Isack Hadjar doesn’t like F1 sprints anymore
Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen to race for JR Motorsports again in 2027
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
4 h
Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen to race for JR Motorsports again in 2027
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