After the Spa-Francorchamps round, Formula 1 took a break with the classic summer stop, while the championship will resume in Zandvoort towards the end of August. In the meantime, however, the FIA has ratified the latest regulatory updates, with some new features that concern both the second part of the championship and the future of the category, especially with a view to 2026.
A new draft also reflects what was decided at the last F1 Commission meeting, which took place during the week of the Belgian Grand Prix. In that case, the teams had decided not to extend the points zone as initially hypothesized, keeping it unchanged up to tenth place, but other novelties emerged from that meeting which were included in the regulations.
In addition to the already mentioned decision, there are three major areas of change for the rest of the season, aimed at clarifying some points that have caused confusion in the past and at providing Pirelli with cars capable of more effectively testing its future tires.
Going back a few months, in April Formula 1 stopped in China for the fifth round of the championship but, in that case, there were no lack of controversies over two different episodes. The first involved Carlos Sainz in qualifying, with the Spaniard remaining stationary on track for several seconds following a crash into the barriers. The session was stopped with the red flag, and after managing to move the car again, the Ferrari driver was able to return to the pits and continue qualifying.
A situation that raised doubts among rival teams, especially since there was a rule at the time that stated, “any driver whose car stops on track during qualifying will not be allowed to take further part in the session.” Aston Martin lodged a protest, basing their charges on this article of the regulations. However, the British team failed to win the appeal, with the stewards emphasizing that each driver was still given time in case of a stop on track.
However, no time limit had been defined since the teams had never reached an agreement on the subject, leaving the decision to race control. The important thing, in the FIA’s view, was that the car did not receive physical assistance to restart, although this detail was not officially included in the regulations but represented only an agreement with the teams.
A few months later, that same rule was revised to include this factor. Whereas in the past the issue of stopping on track was generalized, now the stewards can prevent a driver from taking further part in a session only if they receive physical assistance with the car: “Any driver whose car stops in an area other than the pit lane during the qualifying session or the sprint qualifying session and receives physical assistance will not be allowed to participate further in that session.”
For an example applied to that specific case, Carlos Sainz did not receive any assistance to rejoin the track as he restarted his car independently: in that case, under the revised regulations, the Spaniard would have been able to continue qualifying without being under investigation.
Changes in the way penalties are served
The second episode of that weekend again involved Aston Martin, but more specifically a penalty assigned to one of its two drivers, namely Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard was penalized for contact with his compatriot Sainz in the closing laps of the Chinese Grand Prix sprint, receiving a 10-second penalty, although it made no difference as he had retired from the race.
In specific cases, particularly if the drivers are retired and not classified, the regulations allowed the penalty to be converted into a grid penalty for the next race, as happened to Esteban Ocon in Monaco for his first-lap contact with Pierre Gasly. However, there were also other clauses in the regulations stating that a penalty, if applied in the last three laps of a race, sprint or traditional, or after the session ended, would instead be added to the total race time of the said driver.
In Fernando Alonso’s case, however, he had retired from the race, so the addition of the five seconds was effectively meaningless. The stewards noticed this aspect and suggested that the FIA review the regulations to also consider cases like this.
The issue has been addressed and modified in the latest draft of the regulations, which now reads: “If any of the penalties are imposed on a driver and they are unable to serve the penalty because they are not classified in the sprint session or the race in the case of a) [5-second penalty] or b) [10-second penalty] or because they retired from the sprint session or the race in the case of c) [drive-through] or d) [10-second stop&go], the stewards may impose a grid position penalty on the driver for their next race.”
It is interesting to note, however, that there is a distinction between the types of penalties, namely the 5 or 10-second ones, less severe, and those requiring a pit lane passage or a 10-second stop-and-go penalty. The practical example is that of Lando Norris, who in the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring was penalized by 5 seconds for exceeding track limits too many times: in that case, the 5 seconds were added to the Briton’s total race time, effectively becoming meaningless. Even with the revised regulations, Lando Norris’s penalty would have remained meaningless because, having completed 90% of the race and being classified, the 5 seconds would still have been applied to the total race time. Only if the McLaren driver had not reached 90% of the race distance, being unclassified, then the penalty chosen by the stewards would have been converted into a grid penalty for the next race.
Mule cars in view of 2026 and other changes
Formula 1 is also looking to the future, as in September work for the 2026 championship will also begin, with Aston Martin being drawn first to test the new tires in a test period between the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the Singapore Grand Prix. Teams can use chassis built according to the technical regulations of any of the previous four seasons (from 2020 to 2023) as a base for the mule cars, which also includes cars before the start of the ground-effect era.
Other small changes concern the drivers eligible to take part in the Pirelli tests, who must have completed either at least one Grand Prix or at least 500 kilometers of testing.
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