"Verstappen Rule" Dropped

verstappen rule.jpg
The FIA have dropped the “Verstappen rule” that banned moving under braking.


The rule has been replaced by a more general rule to cover dangerous driving, but doesn’t call for any moving under braking to be investigated.

Controversial overtaking moves by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen prompted criticism from older drivers such as Sebastian Vettel. The move was described as dangerous and the FIA banned the overtaking manoeuvre.

Later in the season, Vettel himself was accused of moving under braking when in a battle against Verstappen.

Now, the more general rule will be slightly more forgiving as each incident will be considered by its own merits.

“Before, we said any move under braking would be investigated,” FIA race director Charlie Whiting said. “Now, we have a simple, broad rule that says effectively if a driver moves erratically or goes unnecessarily slow or behaves in a manner that could endanger another driver then he will be investigated.”

The move seems to be in the right direction, as it will allow for exciting, close racing. But the broader rule could be considered more ambiguous, leaving drivers having to guess whether stewards would deem a move “erratic” or endangering.

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Do you think this is the right move? Would you prefer the move banned entirely? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
 
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I guess we'll have to see how this works out in a few days. Though the language in the new rule doesn't seem to encourage or discourage lane changing under braking in one way or another...
 
Going to be a big accident or a few smaller ones then the rule will revert back to its original state. Just hope your favourite driver isn't involved before it goes through that inevitable process. Probably lots of different interpretations & decisions by each race stewards before that too, always making it unfair for somebody.
 
The right move in order to make the rules even more less clear and easy to understand.
The result is that there will be a lot of controversies about the stewards decisions, based upon a broad and vague regulation.
 
I guess it will depend on what media favourite is involved as to what the punishment will be. I predict more Vettel moaning, some Hamilton shenanigans and some big brass bold moves from Verstappen.
 
So now instead of subjectively enforcing an objective rule; they are going to objectively enforce a subjective rule.....

Generally, it's better in competitions when the rules and their enforcement are well defined. When nobody really knows what the rules are or how they will be enforced it leads to controversy, claims of selective enforcement and favoritism.
 

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