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A subtle change to the wording with regards to the expectation for drivers under double waved yellow flags has been made ahead of this weekend’s Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
Last time out in Turkey, Fernando Alonso visited the stewards after he passed through a double yellow zone during qualifying but still improved his lap time.
His time was significantly faster than that set by Lance Stroll, whose lap was hindered by the same yellow flag but adhered more stringently to the letter of the regulations.
FIA race director Michael Masi has issued his usual notes to teams with revised wording for yellow flags during practice.
Previously, this stated that drivers passing through double waved yellow zones in practice and qualifying should “abandon the lap” in order to satisfy to stewards the rule has been adhered to.
From this weekend’s event, that has been amended with the lap time instead to be deleted.
“Any driver passing through a double waved yellow marshalling sector must reduce speed significantly and be prepared to change direction or stop,” the article reads.
“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.”
In Turkey, a weekend dominated by wet weather, Alonso was not penalised for his alleged transgression.
“Taking into account the fact that the yellow flag situation occurred at the time the driver started his first timed lap of the session and noting that the driver was fully convinced that he did not set a meaningful lap time as his next flying lap was approximately 3.5 seconds faster than the one when the yellow flag situation occurred, the Stewards are satisfied that the driver complied with the relevant regulations and take no further action,” the stewards declared.
Yellow flag rules in race conditions remain unchanged.
Track action at the Circuit of The Americas is set to get underway at 03:30 AEDT on Saturday morning.
