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Max Verstappen has led criticism of a revised interpretation of what F1 drivers are allowed to do when exiting the pit lane.
Verstappen dubbed the change introduced for last weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix as “extremely dangerous”.
Ahead of the event, and after the chaotic scenes during qualifying at the Mexico City Grand Prix, race director Niels Wittich issued an update as part of his event notes.
Article 14 of those notes specifically covered the practice of drivers slowing, or even stopping, in pit exit during qualifying.
“As per article 33.4 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations, drivers are not allowed to go unnecessarily slow, that includes stopping a car in the fast lane of the pit lane,” Wittich’s notes declared.
“During Shootout and Qualifying, drivers may create a gap between the pit exit lights and the SC2 line.
“Any driver who wishes to do so must drive as far to the left as possible to allow other drivers to pass them on the right side of the pit exit road.”
Interlagos boasts an unusual, elongated pit exit that wraps around the inside of Turns 1 and 2 before feeding cars out, offline, onto the back straight out of Turn 3.
There is space near where it joins the track for drivers to complete practice starts, off to the left of the comparatively narrow exit.
Wittich’s intent was to have those drivers wishing to create a gap to the car ahead essentially mimic the process of performing a practice start, and remain to the side of the track rather than blocking the exit for those behind.
“Absolutely terrible, I think, because on this track you have quite a long pit exit and there are some walls,” Verstappen said of the change.
“But on some other tracks, if we implement this, you’re driving very slowly onto a straight where people are passing with 300-plus, and you are maybe driving 15/20 to make a gap, which is I think extremely dangerous.
“So for me, this doesn’t work at all, it just creates even more trouble.
“Look at what was happening [in qualifying], people going on the grass, including myself, to try and pass cars. It’s just a mess.
“Every single qualifying you have six to eight cars getting noted for driving too slow with the minimum time. I don’t know what we’re trying to achieve.”
The problem stems from the minimum time drivers must adhere to while on track.
With a need to create a gap in qualifying to set a lap without being hindered by the turbulence from a car ahead, drivers look for a six to eight-second gap.
As the rules stand, the only place this can be done in F1 is pit lane as, once on track, they have an obligation to maintain a pre-defined speed.
Lando Norris, who finished second in the F1 Sprint in Sao Paulo, was not overly upset by the change but was critical of the fact the drivers were not involved in the process.
“Again, we have no say in these rules,” he noted.
“They just get implemented no matter if we think it’s good or bad for the sport.
“Same with the minimum lap time stuff. I got a reprimand [in the Sprint Shootout] for two cars ahead of me coming out of the pit lane, or one crossing over the Safety Car line, one coming out of the pit lane at the same time.
“I can’t overtake, otherwise I’m going to be racing on a qualifying lap, which is stupid, so I have to back off, and therefore I’m below the minimum time and I get a reprimand for that.
“It’s just a silly thing.”
Norris added that he understood the position of the stewards and that they were doing what they’d been charged with, but that the underlying rules were the issue.
“It’s just a rule that shouldn’t be in my opinion, because I did absolutely nothing wrong,” he argued.
“I didn’t block anyone. I didn’t get in anyone’s way. I’ve just not overtaken and caused a race in qualifying and I get a reprimand for that.”
He also argued race control’s revised interpretation of what is permissible in the pit exit, suggesting it is up to the F1 teams to manage the situation.
“Of course, people do go slowly and things like that, but if you’re scared of it, just go out of the pit lane earlier and avoid all the queueing. It’s quite a simple one,” he observed.
“The only point is when you have like four minutes left on the clock or two minutes left on the clock, and you’ve got a guy at the front of the queue who just waits 30 seconds, 20 seconds – does a Fernando and Lewis, back in McLaren – you kind of screw everyone over.
“That’s the only probably unfair thing but I think there’s just more and more rules for everything and it just causes more and more havoc for everyone.”
