The FIA have announced a clampdown on cars running unnecessarily slowly in the final sector of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit after several near misses with faster cars during Friday’s free practice sessions.
FIA Race Director Michael Masi has announced new guidelines heading into the rest of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend after drivers felt approaching slow-moving cars whilst running a quick lap was potential dangerous.
Lewis Hamilton spoke of the dangers of slow-moving cars after Friday’s sessions, with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver feeling closing speeds were getting dangerous.
And as a result of these concerns, Masi said that drivers should not be running slowly in order to gain a clear track between corners twenty-three and twenty-five, and anyone doing so will be referred to the stewards and potentially penalised.
“Any driver intending to create a gap in front of him in order to get a clear lap should not attempt to do this around Turn 23 through to Turn 25,” said the FIA statement. “Any driver seen to have done this will be reported to the stewards as being in breach of Article 27.4 of the Sporting Regulations.
“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.”
Running slowly around the remainder of the track remains unchanged, although with the number of blind corners and with how high-speed the circuit in Saudi Arabia is, the potential for an accident is still prevalent, as seen by the close calls during final practice on Saturday afternoon involving Hamilton, Pierre Gasly and Nikita Mazepin.