The FIA has moved to prevent a repeat of the confusion which delayed qualifying for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix by over 25 minutes earlier this year.

The sport’s governing body has added a new regulation to clarify the impact a red flag has on a qualifying session.

Race control postponed the start of Q2 at Imola after Haas queried their decision to delete Oliver Bearman’s final lap of Q1, dooming him to elimination. His time initially secured him a place in Q2, but race control deleted it after ruling Bearman completed his lap after red flags were waved in response to Franco Colapinto’s crash.

Footage from Bearman’s car indicated he did not see red flags indicating the session was being stopped until after he crossed the timing line. However the FIA later confirmed the first signal was given three seconds before Bearman finished his lap.

In order to prevent similar situations repeating in the future the FIA has added a new clause to the International Sporting Code which states, among other things, that no lap time will be counted if it was completed after a red flag was first displayed.

The new rule reads: “Where an automobile crosses the control line to complete a lap after the red flag has been displayed: (a) that lap time shall not be considered valid; (b) the moment of first display shall be determined by the official timekeeping system or, where this is not available or not synchronised, as jointly confirmed by the race director or clerk of the course and the chief timekeeper; (c) if a lap time is nevertheless recorded after the first display of the red flag, the stewards shall delete that lap time.”

“This provision applies to all practice sessions, qualifying sessions and races,” it adds.

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