Will the FIA’s suggested change to F1’s racing guidelines solve the main problem?

While the headline news around the FIA as the Qatar Grand Prix got under way covered more staffing turmoil, the governing body’s efforts on revising Formula 1’s racing rules was an altogether positive affair.

“That’s the best meeting I would say we’ve had,” was Lewis Hamilton’s assessment of the one-hour meeting involving the officials and the drivers.

Based on George Russell’s comment that “just when we’ve asked for a bit of transparency and consistency, we’re getting rid of two highly important people in the governing body”, following the news that Formula 2 race director Janette Tan being was dismissed and senior steward Tim Mayer had been dropped, it seems the drivers are still exasperated with unexplained changes at the governing body.

But they are pleased they are being listened to in other areas, with the results of the discussion on F1’s racing rules in the aftermath of Max Verstappen’s moves against Lando Norris in Austin and Mexico City back in focus.

Now that the FIA has presented its findings into the reassessment of the current ‘Driving Standards Guidelines’ document – as promised back at the Mexican GP – the drivers were inevitably tight-lipped on what the proposals meant for their racing tactics. This is understandable given the need to avoid sign-posting battle intentions that a rival could internalise and one day use against them.

Russell’s position as the only director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association currently racing means his words carry added significance in this debate, but he was also the first to speak to the F1 press corps once the meeting that overran its allotted timeframe had finished.

The Mercedes driver revealed “there is a line of regulation that says the inside driver needs to leave room to the guy on the outside from the apex to the exit” and added: “I think that’s going to be getting binned off and I hope it’s going to be from this weekend onwards.”

Regarding outside line attacks, he said: “I think the overtaking rules on the outside will not be changing much and I don’t think we’ve really seen much of a problem [with that].”

When pressed on the specifics of the most contentious moves in the 2024 F1 season – Verstappen turning defence into attack on the inside line at Turn 12 at Austin and Turn 4 in Mexico, in both instances against Norris –…