Two regulatory loopholes the FIA hopes to close by 2025

The FIA (International Automobile Federation) has recently made modifications to the Formula 1 sporting regulations for the 2025 season, specifically targeting two loopholes that had been exploited by certain teams.

1. Clarification of pit lane start procedures

Article 43.8 of the regulations has been revised to state: "all cars starting from the pit lane and able to do so must leave the pitlane and join the formation lap."

Previously, cars starting from the pit lane would only leave their garage when the grid was forming and did not take part in the warm-up lap. Now, once the formation lap is completed, drivers starting from the pit lane will line up in the pitlane in the order corresponding to their qualifying positions.

2. Managing pit returns after an incident

Another aspect of the regulations has been modified for the upcoming season, focusing on how cars return to the pits after an on-track incident. With the amendment of Article 26.10, the race director now has the authority to require a team to instruct their driver to immediately stop the car if it has sustained significant structural damage. However, it remains unclear whether this instruction will be communicated directly to the driver or relayed via the race engineer.

The updated regulation states: "Any driver whose car has sustained obvious structural damage, posing a risk to the driver or others, or any major failure that prevents the car from returning to the pits without unnecessarily hindering another competitor or obstructing the competition, must leave the track as soon as possible in a safe manner. ... At the sole discretion of the race director, if a vehicle is deemed to have suffered significant and obvious structural damage or a major failure, the team may be informed that the car must be stopped as soon as it is safe to do so."

In other words, this rule speeds up the enforcement of the black flag with an orange disc, which requires a car to return to the pits for mandatory repairs.
The use of this flag has sparked several controversies in recent years, notably during incidents involving the Haas team since 2022.