The FIA have made a late change to the rules for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Formula 1 has returned to the Red Bull Ring once again as defending champion Max Verstappen targets a fifth victory at the iconic circuit.
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The Dutchman currently leads Lando Norris by 69 points in the drivers’ standings following his win in Barcelona last time around, and will be looking to extend his advantage further as he chases down a fourth straight world title.
Plenty of changes at Red Bull Ring
A number of alterations have been made to the track in an effort to avoid a repeat of last year’s track limits controversy.
In 2023, 47 lap times were deleted during qualifying, whilst that figure increased to 83 for the main race as race stewards judged over 1,200 track limit incidents throughout the weekend.
Frustratingly for teams and drivers, this meant the final race classification was not confirmed until five hours after the chequered flag, due to the application of a number of post-race penalties being applied.
In light of the heavy pressure put on the sport’s governing body in the aftermath of the event, several gravel traps have now been implemented at some of the track’s most high-profile corners.
That wasn’t to be the last of the changes, however. On Thursday June 27, the FIA released its instructions and rules for this year’s edition for all participating teams, but took the drastic step of making last-minute changes to the document within 24 hours of the first session.
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Regarding pit-lane regulations, the article was updated to include clause 12.3, which stated: “If any part of a car has crossed the dashed line at pit entry, the car is considered to have entered the pit entry road.”
The FIA also provided detailed instructions in relation to post-sprint Parc Ferme rules.
The document read: “For the safe and orderly conduct of the event, all teams are requested to ensure they have three (3) mechanics per car available within the Parc Ferme area, or at the gate to the grid in the case of a car finishing in the top three, directly after the sprint.
“As soon as a car is weighed and/or checked, it will be released to the team mechanics, it must be immediately put on the trolley boards and
returned to the team garage.
“The car must stay on the trolley boards inside the garage with the
wheels fitted until it is notified via the official messaging system that all cars have been weighed and/or checked and Parc Ferme conditions are lifted.
“Work on all cars may only be started following such notification via the official messaging system.”
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