Vasseur Urges Simplification of Complex F1 Rules

Amid growing complexity in F1 regulations, Fred Vasseur calls for clearer guidelines following Carlos Sainz’s controversial restart during the Chinese GP, highlighting the need for reform.

Fred Vasseur is advocating for more clarity on certain regulatory points, such as those regarding on-track stops and the prohibition of restarting during sessions, as happened to Carlos Sainz in China. The Ferrari boss laments the ever more complex Sporting Regulations.

Sainz was stationary for 78 seconds after a crash during the qualifying round of the Chinese GP, before restarting with the race direction’s approval. However, Aston Martin lodged a protest, and the matter was decided by the stewards in favor of Ferrari.

“I don’t know if it’s clear, but we certainly need to understand what happened, because we asked if we could restart, the race director said yes, and that was the end of the story,” he replied. “We need to define the situation exactly.”

“But what is certain is that the regulations are becoming increasingly complicated. When I started, the sporting regulations were 20 pages long. Today, they are 75 pages. You will always find loopholes because there are cross-referenced articles.”

“I remember a few years ago, when Kimi [Räikkönen] spun off the track at Imola, we had two different articles for the same case: one said one thing, and the other said the opposite.”

Vasseur notes that legal gaps and loopholes lead to debates that are tricky to resolve: “It’s tricky, because as a result, the teams are getting bigger and have more and more lawyers.”

“In the end, we are in exactly the same situation as with the technical regulations—we are all trying to find a loophole, and the regulations are now more and more complicated, but I think on this point, an easy clarification is possible.”