Red flag qualifying rule tweaked

A key rule has been tweaked ahead of the 2022 season regarding red flags in a session.

Under the previous ruling, if a driver caused a red flag, their fastest lap was wiped and they were ruled out for the rest of the session.

A 2022 amendment to (D6.1.12) states that, if a driver causes a red flag, they still lose their fastest lap.

However, if a driver can make it back out before the end of the session, they will have the ability to record a new fastest lap.

It comes in the wake of an incident involving Cameron Waters in Sydney last year when the Tickford Racing driver triggered a red flag.

Just after the halfway point of the 10-minute session, Waters slid off at Turn 1 and was seemingly buried in the corner exit gravel trap.

A red flag was called, but Waters managed to extract his car from the gravel trap and returned to pit lane.

However, because Waters was the cause of the stoppage, he was not allowed to return to the session. His fastest lap was wiped, dropping him from third to 15th.

Conditions worsened, but Waters was demoted two more spots when the session restarted, and he started the race 17th.

The red flag rule differs in some categories; in IndyCar, if a driver causes a red flag during a qualifying session, their two best timed laps from it will be deleted.

However, in Formula One, drivers do not lose their fastest time should they trigger a stoppage.

The discussion reared its head when Charles Leclerc sealed pole in Monaco despite ending the session in the barriers, preventing his rivals from setting a faster lap.

A mid-season change to Top Ten Shootout procedures has also been added in the 2022 Operations Manual.

The change was made in September last year following an incident in Townsville.

Shane van Gisbergen's warm-up lap was compromised by a crash on the previous lap for Zane Goddard.

Previous man out Goddard spun and hit the barrier at the final corner on his timed lap.

Goddard managed to get going and returned to pit lane; all the while, van Gisbergen was on his warm-up lap.

Van Gisbergen was told by his team to abort his lap, but he was instructed by race control to start his timed lap after all. He qualified sixth for the race.

Shootout procedures were later change to ensure there will not be a repeat of the incident.

The changes stipulate that if red flags are displayed during a shootout, all cars are to return to pit lane.

Once a car returns to its pit bay, the Race Director will announce a time (approximately five minutes) for the car which did not complete a timed lap to be at pit exit ready to recommence the session.

Any car already at pit exit awaiting its turn will be moved aside by officials or the team if so authorised.

The new qualifying rule will make its debut at the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight in March.