Formula 1

F1 News: Drivers Issued With Warning From FIA Race Director For Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

F1 race director, Niels Wittech, issued a warning to all of the drivers for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. 

Wittech released the warning in his race notes to the drivers that they shouldn’t slow down in order to create a gap in front around turn 23 to turn 25.

He explained:

“Due to the nature of this track, drivers are reminded of the provisions of Article 33.4 of the Sporting Regulations. 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. Any driver seen to have done this will be reported to the stewards as being in breach of Article 33.4 of the Sporting Regulations.”

The rules in Article 33.4 which relates to driving standards and driving slowly, states:

“​​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”.


This warning was issued after Williams driver, Alex Albon, was criticised for hindering Haas driver Mick Schumacher in the first practice on Friday. Previous race director, Michael Massi, released the same warning for last year’s Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia.

Drivers are not allowed to purposely slow down at any race but due to the nature of this track, this is more of a safety concern.

The FIA changed nine out of the twenty-seven corners of the track but some drivers still have some safety concerns. Current championship leader, Charles Leclerc said:

“It depends on how much traffic we have and this often depends not only on the track but also on the drivers. This we’ll have to wait and see. But I don’t see the changes made doing a huge difference to the scenario of last year.”

“It’s going in the right direction, but I don’t think it’s enough, especially in the last part of the track, from what I’ve seen. But the first part from turn four to turn 12 it didn’t change much what was probably the most critical part. Let’s see tomorrow how it feels in the car but I don’t think it’s a massive change.”

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