“The FIA Needs to Sit Down”: Toto Wolff Reacts to What FIA Has Termed as ‘Better Impeding’ After Questionable Blockage By The Likes of Max Verstappen in Mexico

The Mexico City GP Qualifying session was witness to a bizarre situation when Max Verstappen, George Russell, and Fernando Alonso were seen stationary at the pit exit, waiting to go out on track. In the process, they impended the drivers behind. Later, the FIA investigated the whole issue and came out with a statement saying that blocking cars in the pit lane is much better than impeding on track.

As per a recent report by PitDebrief, Toto Wolff stated that the FIA needs to be sure about what they want to see out on the track. Wolff said, “I think we just the FIA needs to sit down with the drivers. And with the sporting directors and say what is it we exactly want to achieve”

The stewards said it was better to impede people exiting the pit lane than on the track coming out of the pits do you have a solution? Any views on that?

Toto Wolff: I don’t know… I think we just the FIA needs to sit down with the drivers and with the sporting directors and… pic.twitter.com/REKpKZI5fW

— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) October 31, 2023

He added that it is kind of correct that being blocked on the pit lane is much safer than being blocked while pushing on a lap. However, impeding cars in the pit lane cannot be a solution. Because in that case, some cars might not even be able to start their laps in time.

The reason why cars keep backing up in the pit lane

Cars backing up in the pit lane has become quite common in recent qualifying sessions. It came about as a result of the FIA mandating a minimum time limit for the drivers to maintain during their out laps. This is so that they don’t back each other up on the track, looking for the right space to start the lap.

However, instead of backing each other on the track, the drivers have now resorted to impeding each other in the pit lane. The likes of Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, and George Russell were all looking for a suitable gap to slot into so that they could start their qualifying lap without being impeded by others.

Max Verstappen is not new to the pit lane impeding strategy

This was not the first time that Verstappen was guilty of backing up the cars at the pit lane exit. The Red Bull star resorted to similar tactics at the 2023 Singapore GP. There, he stopped his car at the pit exit to try and create a gap for his lap.

Singapore Grand Prix – Infringement – Car 1 (Max Verstappen) – Impeding at Pit Exit #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/nbbbWHzmx0

— F1Documents (@F1Documents) September 16, 2023

However, the Dutchman managed to escape without any grid penalties back then. He got a reprimand for the pit lane impeding but not any sporting penalty. Because of this, the FIA faced a lot of backlash.

This time, however, the FIA mentioned in their statement that they are looking forward to finding a better solution for the issue. But, they also admitted that they don’t know what to do, for now.