As a part of the FIA’s ongoing push to enhance security, drivers are actually going to have to stick to a stricter velocity restrict when passing by way of double yellow flag zones throughout each security automobile and digital security automobile procedures.
Beforehand, the one requirement on drivers to react to double yellows was within the Worldwide Sporting Code, which required them to “scale back…velocity considerably, don’t overtake, and be ready to vary path or cease.”
Lap instances in qualifying are deleted when double yellows are out to discourage drivers from taking dangers.
Nonetheless, when operating behind the protection automobile or digital security automobile, the presence of a double yellow flag space didn’t set off any further requirement to additional decelerate.
And in reality, with the way in which timing deltas labored on these events, drivers might generally be operating sooner than regular in a piece of observe to recuperate time misplaced earlier in a sector.
To any extent further, nonetheless, drivers will probably be pressured to hit a chosen velocity restrict particularly by way of a double yellow flag space when they’re beneath security automobile or digital security automobile situations.
FIA technical director Tim Goss believed the imposition of a selected velocity restrict would help drivers, and make issues safer for observe employees.
Marshals wave a yellow flag and maintain a security automobile board
Photograph by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“What we wish to do is to supply drivers with a device to assist them throughout incidents and to make races even safer,” he mentioned.
“For some years with the protection automobile and digital security automobile we’ve used delta instances, a reference to a velocity restrict that we’ve across the observe.
“So, when there’s a bodily or digital security automobile, the drivers are knowledgeable of that delta time on their dashboard show and by radio tones, they usually have to keep up a Positive worth, which means they’re slower than the reference time for the lap.
“Nonetheless, there are events the place vehicles can legitimately quickly enhance their velocity to recuperate any time they’ve misplaced relative to this reference time.
“What we wish to do now’s to increase using the delta time idea to make sure that vehicles are strictly slowed to the required delta time when double waved yellow flags are proven beneath a digital security automobile or security automobile, so we’re introducing a devoted reference velocity restrict within the space the place these flags are displayed.”
Drivers will probably be given each visible and audible warnings a few double yellow flag zone, in order that they shouldn’t be caught abruptly by the necessity to decelerate additional. Delta necessities will relaxation to zero at first of a double yellow flag zone.
And though the brand new system opens the door to probably leaving some drivers at a drawback in the event that they must decelerate for a double yellow that has ended by the point following vehicles come by way of, the FIA says that security has to come back earlier than aggressive features.
FIA Head of F1 Electronics Olivier Hulot mentioned: “If a automobile goes by way of a double yellow, however not one other, and that automobile has to decelerate, it’s shedding time relative to rivals. Nonetheless, for the FIA, security is paramount and when there’s a hazard on observe or marshals on observe then we’ve to minimise the dangers it doesn’t matter what.”