Lando Norris blasts FIA over ‘terrible rule’ that needs to be scrapped

Lando Norris is not a fan at all of the ban on overtaking at the pit exit and has called on the FIA to scrap this new rule.

For years now in Formula 1 traffic issues have been caused by slow-moving drivers on the track in qualifying, as they look to create an ideal gap to the car ahead before setting off on a push lap.

As a result, the FIA implemented a delta lap time which cannot be exceeded in qualifying to avoid drivers going dangerously slow out on the track, but this has brought about a fresh set of issues to deal with.

Lando Norris wants “terrible rule” gone

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Incidents of pit-lane impeding began to occur, drivers arguing that the only way they could respect the delta time, while creating the necessary gap to a car ahead, was to wait at the pit exit if a car on the track was coming past.

That led to the FIA permitting overtaking through the pit exit, though this was banned after Friday practice in Abu Dhabi, Max Verstappen accusing the Mercedes drivers of trying to squeeze him into the wall as he picked his way through the train of cars.

This latest ruling though has not gone down well with Norris, who highlighted a glaring problem should there be late red flags in a qualifying session as he urges the FIA to revert to the past system.

Asked by media, including PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher, whether the overtaking ban has improved the situation at the pit exit, Norris replied: “No, I think it’s a terrible rule.

“The thing is, they have to have the rule because of the other silly rule that they made us do.

“The thing is, if it’s a red flag and there’s three minutes left, there’s going to be like three cars that get to do a lap.

“We should just go back to the way it was before.”

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Fernando Alonso went in hard on his criticism, claiming the FIA has made qualifying “obsolete” with the various rules put in place, including the attempts to manage traffic.

“Exits did not help or make things worse,” Alonso told media including PlanetF1.com. “It didn’t change much, but it proves that the qualifying format is obsolete.

“This session used to be the best session of the weekend where the cars, they come alive.

“You drive these very fast cars and now it’s the worst session of the weekend. For the teams, for drivers, for traffic management, for track limits.

“Going to the stewards, not respecting the delta, impeding people, deleting the laps. We are all happy that it’s over and it shouldn’t be like that.”

F1 2023 concluded in Abu Dhabi, meaning any potential further tweaks would be put into use for the new campaign.

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