The FIA adjusts its regulations in response to the Chinese Grand Prix imbroglio

The FIA once again modifies its guidelines. After starting a process of redesigning its technical, sporting, and financial regulations in response to the new regulations of 2026, it has just added an additional point to clarify articles 39.6 and 54.3.d, reports that were strongly criticized during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.

Carlos Sainz’s accident in qualifying

Indeed, during the qualifying session of the Shanghai Grand Prix, Spanish driver Carlos Sainz lost control of his Ferrari in the last corner of the circuit before damaging his car in the advertising boards. Nevertheless, after a few seconds stopped on the track, he was able to restart and finished his qualifying in seventh position.

Or, Article 39.6 of the FIA Sporting Code was very clear on this subject: « Any driver whose car stops in an area other than the pit lane during the qualifying session or the sprint qualifying session will not be allowed to take part in the rest of that session. »

As a result, the Aston Martin team had filed a complaint because the Spaniard had eliminated Lance Stroll in Q2, thus preventing both Aston Martins from entering the top 10. The FIA did not sanction the Ferrari driver, considering that he had not received any external assistance to restart. To clarify the situation, the FIA added a clarification to article 39.6: « Any driver whose car stops in an area other than the pit lane during the qualifying session or qualifying sprint session and who receives physical assistance will not be allowed to take part in the rest of that session. »

The penalty imposed on Fernando Alonso

However, another situation occurred during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend with the collision between the two Spanish drivers during the first sprint race of the year. On lap 16, the Aston Martin driver was fighting to maintain his place on the podium and had to face competition from Sainz and Perez. At the start of turns 7 and 8, the Ferrari driver accelerated better than his compatriot and overtook him. However, as usual, the Bull from Asturias did not back down and immediately tried to pass him again, but braked too late at turn 9, causing damage to both cars, but mainly resulting in the two-time world champion’s retirement.

The FIA had indeed penalized the Spanish driver with a 10-second penalty, but his retirement had led to a rather confusing situation. Before the recent update, article 54.3.d of the sporting regulations concerning incidents occurring during the sprint race or the main race stated that: « if a 10-second penalty is imposed after the end of a sprint session, then 10 seconds will be added to the elapsed time of the driver concerned.

This means that the Spaniard was not really penalized by the stewards on the track (he still lost 3 points on his Super License because of this incident) who gave him a 10-second penalty even though he had retired.

From now on, this article has been revised to be more explicit: « If one of the four penalties is imposed on a driver, and that driver is unable to serve the penalty because he is not classified in the sprint session or the race or because he retires from the sprint session or the race, the race stewards may impose a grid penalty on the driver for his next race. »

These regulatory adjustments aim to ensure that penalties are applied in a fair and dissuasive manner. Grid penalties now seem to be favored to prevent drivers from escaping sanctions by retiring after a collision. However, teams will likely continue to look for ways to bypass these rules, making the task of the FIA equally complex.