The fans at the United States Grand Prix may miss out on Max Verstappen’s blocking maneuvers, as the race stewards warn the drivers that they will be strictly enforcing the regulations. The new enforcement prohibits moving under braking.
The discussion about driver tactics came up during Friday’s drivers’ briefing and transformed into a heated discussion, with several drivers against the moves which were recently displayed at the Japanese Grand Prix. The driver that will be impacted the move by these recent rule changes will be Max Verstappen. The recent situation between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen on the penultimate lap in Japan is a prime example of the conduct which the stewards are planning to target, as was a similar incident between Kimi Räikkönen and Max Verstappen at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The stewards have cited several existing articles within the 2016 Formula One sporting regulations as the reason for their change in enforcement.
Article 27.5 states that “at no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person.” This includes dangerous defending moves that force a driver to take an evasive action, as it could lead to a crash.
Article 27.8 also prohibits any abnormal change in direction: “Manoeuvres liable to hinder other drivers, such as deliberate crowding of a car beyond the edge of the track or any other abnormal change of direction, are not permitted.”
Article 27.6 disallows drivers to make more than one move in direction while defending their position: “More than one change of direction to defend a position is not permitted. Any driver moving back towards the racing line, having earlier defended his position off-line, should leave at least one car width between his own car and the edge of the track on the approach to the corner.” However, the stewards have said that they will not penalize drivers that move back towards the racing line, as long as they comply with this article.
Teams were warned ahead of qualifying that moving under braking would be considered a breach of the sporting regulations. This gives the stewards the rights to apply a penalty at their own discretion. This could range anywhere from a time penalty to a disqualification from the race.
