Doc 4 - Race Director's Event Notes

Document 4 - Race Director's Event Notes

Issued by the FIA Formula One Race Director to all Teams and Officials on 15 May 2025 at 18:40.

General Instructions

1. Laps during Qualifying and Reconnaissance Lap(s):

   • Drivers must stay below the maximum time set by the FIA between the Safety Car lines on the pit lane map during in-laps and out-laps in qualifying and reconnaissance laps for the race.
   • Exceeding this time may be deemed unnecessarily slow.
   • This does not supersede Articles 33.4 and 37.5 of the Sporting Regulations.
   • Incidents will normally be investigated after the session or race.

2. Parc Fermé:

   • Parc Fermé cameras must be uncovered and operational at all times.

3. Lapping during the Race:

   • Slower cars must allow faster cars to pass at the first available opportunity.
   • The F1 marshaling system will provide a pre-warning when a faster car is within 3.0s.
   • Blue light panels, cockpit lights, and timing monitor messages will be shown when a faster car is within 1.2s.

4. Article 55.15 SR:

   • Drivers must proceed at a consistent pace without erratic acceleration, braking, or maneuvers that could endanger others during the Safety Car period before the restart.

Event Specific Instructions

5. ERS safety check after covers off:

   • Teams must connect the umbilical and start telemetry data logging for ERS safety status check each morning when cars are under parc fermé conditions after covers are removed.

6. FIA Outside Scales Times:

   • Available at the pit-lane entrance outside curfew and Parc Fermé cover-up times, except for 30 minutes before Qualifying and during support competitions in the pit lane.

7. Specific Technical Procedures:

   • A new Appendix Index File ("2025 Formula 1 Appendix – iss 8 – 2025-05-12.xlsx") containing relevant documents is available on the FIA SFTP site.
   • Competitors must comply with these directives.

8. Support Races team barrier placement and Movements:

   • Team barriers must be no more than 4 meters from the garages during support category sessions.
   • Pit stop gantry arms must be moved back towards the garage.
   • Pushing cars to the weighing area is not permitted when a support category is in the pit lane.
   • Support Crews and Trolleys released into Pit Lane no earlier than 20 minutes before Pit Exit opens.
   • Support Category competition vehicles released from marshalling area no earlier than 15 minutes before Pit Exit opens.

9. Practice starts:

   • During free practice, practice starts may only be carried out on the asphalt area on the RHS of the fast lane using painted grid boxes.
   • Not permitted during Qualifying Sessions.
   • After each free practice, practice starts according to Article 38.3 SR.
   • If free practice resumes with less than 2 minutes, cars leaving the pit lane for practice starts on the grid must do so without undue delay or leaving a significant gap.
   • When the pit exit is open for the race, practice starts only after the pit exit where a box is painted.

10. Article 34.8 SR:

    • Cars driven to the end of the pit lane before a session must form a line in the fast lane and leave in order.
    • A car is in the fast lane when all of a tyre is beyond the far side of the solid white line separating the fast lane from the inner lane (towards the garages).
    • Cars should blend into the fast lane safely and without impeding others.
    • Cars in the inner lane parallel to the fast lane are not considered to have blended in.
    • Overtaking in the fast lane or working lane is not permitted except in exceptional circumstances (a "stopped car" has an obvious mechanical problem).

11. Lines at the Pit Entry and Pit Exit:

    • Drivers must follow procedures at pit entry and exit (ISC Appendix L, Chapter 4, Articles 4 and 6).
    • Passing to the right of the bollard at safety car line 1 is considered entering the pit lane.
    • During reconnaissance laps, drivers are allowed to cross the white line separating the pit exit road from the circuit.

12. Stopping Qualifying Sessions:

    • If a qualifying session is stopped with less than 60 seconds remaining, the Race Director, with Stewards' agreement, may decide not to resume that period.

13. Post-Qualifying drivers weighing:

    • Drivers finishing Q1 and Q2 must go directly to FIA scales after returning to the garage.
    • They may not drink or do anything to increase their weight before weighing.
    • Drivers stopping on track (if not requiring the Medical Centre) must go to the FIA scales.
    • Top 10 drivers must go immediately to the FIA scales without contact with others.

14. DRS during all free practice sessions, qualifying and the race:

    • DRS Detection is disabled in a zone if any light panels in that zone display yellow.
    • DRS activation 1 zone: panels 19, 1, 2, 3, 4.

15. Track Limits:

    • White lines define track edges (Article 33.3).
    • Failing to negotiate track limits during Qualifying and the Race will result in lap time invalidation.

16. Unsafe or Unknown ERS Status:

    • If ERS status is unsafe or unknown, relevant team mechanics must go to the area in front of race control building at pit entry after the session to be transported to their car.

17. Entering Fast Lane during all Practice Sessions:

    • During suspended Free Practice or Qualifying, cars may only enter the Fast Lane after the re-start time is confirmed via official messaging.

18. Fire extinguishers around the circuit:

    • Indicated by white boards with a red fire extinguisher attached to debris fences.

19. Places to remove cars from the track:

    • Indicated by fluorescent orange panels/paintings on barriers.

20. Removing cars from the grid:

    • Cars may be removed through gates adjacent to grid position 14 and after garage 32.

21. Race Suspension or Starting Procedure Suspended:

    • Cars will stop in the fast lane with the first car near garage 32 (except in case of Art 57.2 – stopping on the grid).

22. Car number light panels for the start:

    • On the right-hand side of the grid.

23. Light panels:

    • In case of an incident, yellow and double yellow light panels on Panel 9 mirror Panel 10.

24. Changes to the Circuit:

    • Various realignments of white and blue lines at specific corners (Turns 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19).