Formula 1 drivers have been given new guidance on where they should stop their cars if they need to retire during sessions at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The new information has been issued after the FIA gave the race director new powers to order teams to retire severely damaged cars. The rule was changed in time for the first race of this year.
The new guidance issued by the race director specifies which side of the circuit drivers should position their cars if they need to stop. It shows the nearest locations where drivers can find emergency exit gaps in the trackside barriers which can allow marshals to recover vehicles without the Safety Car being required.
Under the revised regulations for this year, the race director may order a team to stop a car if it “has significant and obvious damage to a structural component which results in it being in a condition presenting an immediate risk of endangering the driver or others” or if the car “has a significant failure or fault which means it cannot reasonably return to the pit lane without unnecessarily impeding another competitor or otherwise hindering the competition.”
Last year Red Bull was fined €25,000 and its driver Sergio Perez given a three-place grid drop after the stewards ruled he created a dangerous situation by driving his damaged car to the pits instead of retiring immediately. The stewards noted “the team confirmed in the hearing that the driver had been advised to bring the car back to the pits as they were trying to avoid a Safety Car situation” while Perez’s team mate Max Verstappen was leading.
Specified retirement locations at Suzuka
| Turn numbers | Location | Position to retire car |
|---|---|---|
| Start line to turn two | First turn | Left-hand side |
| Turn three and approach | Right-hand side | |
| Turns four and five | Esses | Left-hand side |
| Turn six and start of seven | Dunlop | Right-hand side |
| Mid-turn seven | Left-hand side | |
| Turn seven exit to turn eight entry | Right-hand side | |
| Turn eight exit to turn 12 | Degner one and two, hairpin | Left-hand side |
| Turn 12 to turn 15 | Spoon curve | Right-hand side |
| Turn 15 to 16 | 130R | Left-hand side |
| Turn 16 to 17 | Chicane | Right-hand side |
| Turn 17 exit to start line | Final turn | Left-hand side |
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