The rules of correct overtaking
New Formula 1 season, new technical rules and – hopefully – new battles on track. With the advent of the 2026 season, the FIA has also presented what will be the new stewards’ guidelines for assessing correctness in overtaking and – consequently – applying penalties in the event that there are maneuvers judged to be illegal. After the controversies that emerged on several occasions during last season, with drivers criticizing the stewards’ management of certain episodes, the international federation has sought to meet the requests of the protagonists in the Circus.
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“These documents are the result of a collaborative process between the FIA, the F1 teams and the drivers“, explained the federation, presenting the result of a winter of work which, in everyone’s hopes, should allow for better judgment of doubtful episodes and above all favor the spectacle. Always assuming that with this new type of single-seater it is actually possible to have good battles for positions on the track.
The main points in which these new guidelines for overtaking and penalties can be generally summarized are five and have been “modified to align them with the objectives expressed by the drivers and the GPDA”. The discussion took place last year in Qatar and those listed below are the results it produced.
Watchword: interpretation
-) Stewards will no longer impose penalty points except for dangerous, reckless or apparently deliberate actions that cause a collision or for other unacceptable or unsportsmanlike behavior.
-) Stewards will show greater flexibility in the application of the rules.
-) Leniency will be shown in cases where an accident is the result of an attempt to avoid a collision. The guidelines now recognize that a temporary loss of control or a wheel lock-up can be due to the “laws of physics” or to the attempt to avoid a collision.
– ) Stewards will recognize that in an overtaking maneuver, once a car has earned the right to the corner, the other car cannot simply disappear.
-) Guidelines on expected behavior in the presence of yellow and blue flags have been added, in order to provide greater clarity to drivers.
What is expected, therefore, is greater interpretation of episodes and less willingness to intervene on the part of the ‘referees’, except in cases of obvious irregularities. A common-sense approach on paper which – it is the hope of all fans – will then have to find concrete confirmation at the time of its actual application.
