F1 updates rule after Norris avoids punishment for jumping start | formula 1

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) updated this Tuesday the 2024 F1 Sporting Regulations.

Now, Article 48 indicates that the pilot who moves “after the four seconds in which the lights are on and before the signal is given” when they go out will be punished. The section that signaled that the judging of a starting race would be made using the transponder, fixed to the cars, was removed.

In other words: whether there is electronic detection or not, the visual analysis of the race marshals will be enough to judge whether a driver missed the start or not.

Norris, who started sixth in the race at the Jeddah Circuit, moved his car just seconds before the signal lights indicating the start of the race went out. The movement was detected by the Briton’s McLaren’s on-board camera. Lando stops his movement and, with the lights permanently turned off, starts walking again.

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Mercedes driver, George Russell was alongside his rival. He identified, at the beginning of the race, Norris’ movement, and “reported” on his team’s radio that his compatriot had missed the start.

The stewards, however, only analyzed what happened on the 13th lap of the race won by Max Verstappen and decided to exempt the McLaren driver, as the transponder had not detected anything. In the document detailing the investigation, the commissioners acknowledge that Norris moved but did not punish him.

Norris postponed his pit stop in the race won by Max Verstappen this Saturday and did 38 laps on medium tires, which allowed him to lead the race for a few laps. When making his pit stop, however, the Brit lost positions that he was unable to recover in the final moments of the race and ended up in eighth place. Oscar Piastri, his McLaren colleague, came fourth.