FIA rewrites rules on how F1 grids are decided following Monza confusion

New rules defining how Formula 1 grids are drawn up will come into force from this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.

The FIA has issued new regulations defining how the classification of F1 qualifying sessions are decided and how penalties are applied to determine the final starting grid.

It follows confusion among teams over the starting grid at last month’s Italian Grand Prix. Nine of the 20 drivers had penalties for the race, and after Saturday’s qualifying session some teams and drivers were initially unsure what their starting positions would be.

Extensive revisions have been made to the 2022 Sporting Regulations in order to clarify the situation in future. The rules now define the starting order of drivers who are not classified in qualifying sessions but are given permission to participate in the grand prix.

The rules also define how grid penalties are applied and what happens if they lead to two or more penalised drivers sharing the same grid position. In that instance, the driver with the fastest time in qualifying starts ahead.

Drivers who accrue a total penalty of more than 15 grid places – for infringements of any kind – will start at the back of the grid behind any drivers who were classified in the qualifying session. Unclassified drivers will line up behind them in an order based on the lap times they set in third practice (or, when deciding the grid for a sprint race, first practice).

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Updated F1 Sporting Regulations on setting the grid

Revised rule defining how the qualifying classification is determined:

39.3 The Qualifying Classification will be determined in the following way:
a) Classified drivers will be ordered according to the sequence below:
i) The top ten positions will be allocated to the drivers who took part in Q3, in accordance with the best time set by each driver in Q3, the fastest in the first position.
ii) The next five positions will be allocated to the drivers who got eliminated in Q2, in accordance with the best time set by each driver in Q2, the fastest in the 11th position.
iii) The next five positions will be allocated to the drivers who got eliminated in Q1, in accordance with the best time set by each driver, the fastest in the 16th position.
iv) If two (2) or more drivers set identical times during Q1, Q2 or Q3 priority will be given to the one who set it first.
v) If more than one driver fails to set a time during Q2 or Q3 they will be arranged in the following order:
– Any driver who attempted to set a qualifying time by starting a flying lap.
– Any driver who failed to start a flying lap.
– Any driver who failed to leave the pits during the period.
b) Drivers will be considered to be “unclassified” in the following circumstances:
i) If they got eliminated in Q1 and their best session lap exceeded 107% of the fastest time set during that session, unless the track was declared wet by the Race Director.
ii) If they failed to set a time in Q1, or if all their laps were deleted
iii) If they got disqualified by the Stewards from the Qualifying session
The relative classification of such drivers will be determined as follows:
– Drivers who are unclassified because of conditions (i) or (ii) will be allocated the top positions in accordance with the order they were classified in P3 (or, in the case a Sprint Session is scheduled, P1)
– Drivers who are unclassified because of condition (iii) will be allocated the lower positions in accordance with the order they were classified in P3 (or, in the case a Sprint Session is scheduled, P1)
The participation of unclassified drivers in the remainder of the Competition will be determined in each case by the Stewards, who may exceptionally consider parameters such as:
– A suitable lap time being set in a free practice session
– The gravity of the offence which caused the driver’s disqualification

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Revised rule defining how the grid is determined on a sprint race weekend:

41.2 The grid for the sprint session will be based on the Qualifying Classification defined in Article 39.3.

41.3 For the purposes of this Article 41.3 only, the final classification of the Sprint Session, to be used for the determination of the Race grid, will be considered to be as follows:
i) The top positions will be occupied by drivers who have been classified in the sprint session, in accordance with their finishing position
ii) Drivers not classified in the sprint session will occupy the next positions in the order of the number of laps completed. Should more than one driver have the same number of completed laps, their order will be determined based on the final grid for the sprint session.
iii) Drivers who failed to start the sprint session will occupy the next positions, and their relative position will be determined by the Qualifying Classification.
iv) Drivers who were disqualified in the sprint will be positioned behind all the other drivers and their relative position will be determined by the Qualifying Classification.
The grid for the race will be based on the Sprint Session Classification defined above. Starting from a nominally empty grid, drivers who were not disqualified in the Sprint Session will be allocated their grid positions in the sequence of steps (a) – (d) defined below, while drivers who were disqualified in the Sprint Session will be allocated their grid positions in accordance with (e), below:
a) Drivers who have received 15 or less cumulative grid penalties will be allocated a temporary grid position equal to their Sprint Session Classification defined in (a) plus the sum of their grid penalties. If two or more drivers share a temporary grid position, their relative order will be determined in accordance with their Sprint Session Classification, with the lowest classified driver keeping their allocated temporary grid position, and the other drivers getting temporary grid positions immediately ahead of them.
b) Following the allocation of temporary grid positions to penalised drivers in accordance with (a), unpenalised drivers will be allocated any unoccupied grid position, in the sequence of their Sprint Session Classification.
c) Following the allocation of grid positions to unpenalised drivers, penalised drivers with a temporary grid position, as defined in (b), will be moved up to fill any unoccupied grid position.
d) Drivers who have accrued more than 15 cumulative grid position penalties, or who have been penalised to start at the back of the grid, will start behind any classified driver. Their relative position will be determined in accordance with their Sprint Session Classification.
e) Drivers who were disqualified in the Sprint Session, but who have been permitted to participate by the Stewards will be allocated grid positions behind all the other drivers and their relative position will be determined by the Qualifying Classification.

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Revised rule defining how the grid is determined on a normal race weekend:

42.2 The grid for the race will be based on the Qualifying Classification defined in Article 39.3. Starting from a nominally empty grid, drivers will be allocated their grid positions in the following sequence of steps:
a) Classified drivers who have received 15 or less cumulative grid penalties will be allocated a temporary grid position equal to their Qualifying Classification plus the sum of their grid penalties. If two or more drivers share a temporary grid position, their relative order will be determined in accordance with their Qualifying Classification, with the slowest driver keeping their allocated temporary grid position, and the other drivers getting temporary grid positions immediately ahead of them.
b) Following the allocation of temporary grid positions to penalised drivers in accordance with (a), unpenalised classified drivers will be allocated any unoccupied grid position, in the sequence of their Qualifying Classification.
c) Following the allocation of grid positions to unpenalised classified drivers, penalised drivers with a temporary grid position, as defined in (a), will be moved up to fill any unoccupied grid position.
d) Classified drivers who have accrued more than 15 cumulative grid position penalties, or who have been penalised to start at the back of the grid, will start behind any other classified driver. Their relative position will be determined in accordance with their Qualifying Classification.
e) Unclassified drivers who have been permitted to participate by the Stewards will be allocated grid positions behind all the classified drivers. Their relative positions will be determined in accordance with Article 39.3 (b).

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