Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and the rest of the F1 field have been issued a new warning from race director Niels Wittech ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. In his race notes, Wittech has warned drivers should not slow down to create a gap to the car in front.
He warned drivers should not slow around turn 23 to turn 25 which is the back straight before the tight last hairpin.
He said: “Due to the nature of this track, drivers are reminded of the provisions of Article 33.4 of the Sporting Regulations. Any driver intending to create a gap in front of him in order to get a clear lap should not attempt to do this around Turn 23 through to Turn 25. Any driver seen to have done this will be reported to the stewards as being in breach of Article 33.4 of the Sporting Regulations.”
Article 33.4 relates to driving standards and driving slowly.
The rule states: “At no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person”.
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He said: “It depends on how much traffic we have and this often depends not only on the track but also on the drivers. This we’ll have to wait and see. But I don’t see the changes made doing a huge difference to the scenario of last year.”
“It’s going in the right direction, but I don’t think it’s enough, especially in the last part of the track, from what I’ve seen. But the first part from turn four to turn 12 it didn’t change much what was probably the most critical part. Let’s see tomorrow how it feels in the car but I don’t think it’s a massive change.”