Formula 1 drivers say the series needs to tighten up its rules after a series of penalty calls at the United States Grand Prix provoked controversy.
Many also called for the physical limits on track boundaries introduced at several circuits this year to be widely adopted.
Over the course of F1’s two races in Austin, the stewards imposed a total of five penalties on drivers for either forcing a rival off the track or gaining an advantage by running wide. Oscar Piastri’s sprint race penalty for forcing Pierre Gasly wide was a particularly cause for concern, and Lando Norris’ penalty for overtaking Max Verstappen when his rival defended his position by leaving the circuit also attracted much debate.
Gasly believes some drivers exploit the current rules in an “unfair” way. “Austin highlighted that there is definitely something that’s got to be changed,” he said.
“I think there is the rule as it’s written and there is more the common sense on how you want to approach racing. There is this grey area at the moment which allows us drivers to benefit from the regulation in a kind of unfair way of approaching racing.
“This is something which I guess we all agree and which will be worked on with the FIA on how to improve things because there have been a couple of incidents which got us [in] mixed feelings on the decision that came out of it. I think we all need some clarity and a bit better-written rules to improve the racing for the future.”
Last weekend’s winner Charles Leclerc was not involved in any of the incidents but also sees a need for change in the rules. He expects drivers to raise the matter with race director Niels Wittich in tomorrow’s meeting.
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“There are few things maybe in Austin that I have seen that we maybe have to discuss with the FIA, because I feel like the penalties were sometimes a little bit too harsh,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure that we all align, the FIA and us drivers, in order to make sure that it’s clear what we can do and what we cannot do.
“When I’m saying that, it’s more about, I think Oscar’s overtake on the Saturday, which for me didn’t really deserve a penalty. But this is an ongoing process that we always try to optimise with the FIA and it’s a discussion that we’ll have, I’m sure, during this briefing.”
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