F1 drivers banned from pitlane blocking in fresh impeding clampdown

Max Verstappen, George Russell and Fernando Alonso all escaped penalties after being investigated for impeding other cars during qualifying at the Mexico City Grand Prix by stopping in the pitlane and creating big queues.

The tactic has been used by drivers at a number of recent races and has emerged as an unintended consequence of the FIA enforcing a minimum lap time for laps during qualifying to avoid dangerous situations when drivers try to make a gap for themselves before starting flying laps. 

But amid concerns that drivers could now be impeded in the pitlane, F1’s governing body has moved to ban drivers from stopping in a bid to stamp out the problem altogether. 

The updated guidance for this weekend’s round in Brazil was revealed in FIA race director Niels Wittich’s pre-event notes on Thursday. 

“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 pitlane,” they stated.

“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.”

Verstappen had suggested another solution was needed last time out in Mexico City. 

“I think it’s all imperfect at the moment so we need to come up probably with something else,” he said. “But it’s hard.

“The thing I don’t understand is everyone is trying to make a gap now in the pit lane, which is the only place where we can do so, so I don’t really understand how you can be impeding someone.

“So for me I think we have to be a little bit more lenient with that, knowing that it’s a safe environment, we’re driving really slow, it’s the only place where we can make a gap because we drive out of the box and of course we are in the beginning of the pit and we don’t know what other people are doing. So you are constantly, of course, then trying to judge a gap. You don’t want to start a lap within three or four seconds of someone because that’s really bad for following.

“But then on the other hand if we wouldn’t have had this kind of minimum lap time done, maybe you have some impeding into the last sector again. So it’s all quite tough I guess, to find a good compromise.”