F1 stewards issue driving standards clarification ahead of Mexico GP
Formula 1's governing body acts to clear up ambiguity surrounding wheel-to-wheel battles and corner ownership before the action begins in Mexico.
Ahead of the Mexico Grand Prix on Sunday, the F1 stewards have issued a ‘clarification of application of Driving Standards Guidelines’.
This comes after chaos at Turn 1 on the opening lap of the Mexico Grand Prix in 2025, when both Charles Leclerc and George Russell cut the corner.
In normal scenarios, it would have been expected that the duo would have been penalised. However, on this occasion, neither the Mercedes nor the Ferrari driver received any form of penalty.
This was not the only occasion of chaos at the opening corners at the Mexico Grand Prix, as it has been a historic and controversial problem at the event.
The stewards have now made an attempt to stamp out the issues ahead of the 2026 edition of the Mexico Grand Prix, so there is no repeat of the antics from 2025.
A statement from the stewards regarding the opening lap, which was issued to all drivers and teams, reads as follows:
“Applicable for this event, on Lap 1 and the first lap after any Resumption, in Turns 1 to 3, and Turns 4 to 6, all cars will, by default, be considered as both attacking and defending.
“Thus, in line with existing guidelines, any car leaving the track in these areas and maintaining a position to a car or cars within close proximity behind (as determined by the stewards) may be considered as gaining a lasting advantage, unless such position is yielded by Turn 4 [in the case of a car leaving the track in the area of Turn 1 to 3], or by Turn 12 [in the case of a car leaving the track in the area of Turns 4 to 6.]”
Lewis Hamilton will start the 2026 Mexico Grand Prix from pole position after he secured his 105th pole position in the sport.
The championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, can win the title, but he will start the Grand Prix from fourth place in the Mercedes.
