New rules for penalties for losing places at the start

The FIA ​​World Motorsport Council has approved new rules to impose penalties for the loss of places on the grid, which will prevent future confusion. They come into effect this weekend with the US Grand Prix in 2022.

The FIA ​​now applies the principle of a “nominal empty grid”, where the starting field is filled in step by step.

a) Riders who score in the qualifying and are penalized with a loss of up to 15 (inclusive) places at the start, will first be given a provisional position equal to the sum of the qualifying result and the penalty. If two or more Skaters share the same provisional starting position, their relative order will be determined according to the standings, with the slowest rider retaining his provisional starting grid and the other Skaters occupying the provisional grid immediately in front of him.

b) After the allocation of provisional positions on the starting grid in accordance with paragraph (a), Skaters who have not received penalty points will be allocated to vacant positions on the starting grid in accordance with the results of the qualification.

c) After the allocation of positions on the grid to the unsanctioned classified riders, the penalized riders with a temporary grid position as defined in paragraph (a) will be moved up to fill any unoccupied position on the grid.

d) Riders with any time in qualifying who are penalized by more than 15 places lost at the start or starting from the last position will start behind any other classified rider. Their relative position is determined based on the qualifying results.

e) Riders who have not qualified during qualifying but who are allowed to start by the Stewards will be placed on the starting grid behind all classified Riders.