Lap times deletion rule under double yellow flag conditions to carry on in Mexico. New yellow flag deletion rule to continue in Mexico.

A new Formula 1 rule was first introduced at the United States Grand Prix two weeks ago and states that lap times are deleted under double yellow flag conditions. This will now also apply to the next round of the 2021 Formula One season, the Mexico City Grand Prix at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

This idea was introduced after several discussions about whether or not a lap from Alpine’s Fernando Alonso at Istanbul Park should have stood, as he was accused of not slowing down sufficiently under double waved yellow flags. After that moment, any driver passing through a part of a circuit where double-yellows are out will automatically have their lap times deleted in free practice or during the qualifying session.

This has been done in order to attempt to remove any doubt regarding how much drivers have slowed down under these conditions, creating a line in the sand similar to how lap deletions for track limits now take place, without room for interpretation.

Race director Michael Masi’s notes are distributed around all the teams ahead of each race weekend, and a section now informs that “any driver passing through a double waved yellow marshalling sector must reduce speed significantly and be prepared to change direction or stop. In order for the stewards to be satisfied that any such driver has complied with these requirements it must be clear that he has not attempted to set a meaningful lap time. For practical purposes any driver in a double yellow sector will have that lap time deleted.” – the statements inform.

Australian motorsports director Michael Masi himself was happy with the way in which the new rule was integrated into the race weekend at Austin, despite the fact that just a single lap was actually removed as a result of the new ruling.

Yet Michael Masi explained there has been a widely positive reaction from drivers and teams surrounding the new measure because of its clarity, and confirmed it will be trialled again next weekend at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez:

“It certainly worked first time out. We only had one that had to be done. That was Kimi [Raikkonen] during FP3, I think. Only the one scenario. So we will continue it again in Mexico, and we’ve got a few back-of-house processes to try and speed up that system. But that seems to have ticked the box in that world, and all the drivers were quite supportive of it being very clear from that perspective, and probably from not having engineers and so forth trying to debate what is and is not meaningful.” – Michael Masi concluded.