The FIA has issued revised event notes regarding the procedure for drivers if they run wide through the opening sequence of corners at the Sochi Autodrom.
The nature of the corner, plus the extensive run-off, means preventing drivers from gaining an advantage if they run wide has been an issue for several years.
For Friday’s practice sessions a slalom was set up, requiring drivers to flick left, right, and then left through a sequence of three sets of blocks if they went wide at Turn 2, which is the first braking zone of the circuit.
However Valtteri Bottas removed the first set of blocks when he misjudged the situation, causing the session to be placed under Virtual Safety Car in order for marshals to fix the block.
Overnight the FIA has acted and instead any driver who runs wide through Turn 2 must now “re-join the track by driving to the left of the white blocks and remaining to the left of the orange block in the run off.”
Each incident will be judged on a case-by-case basis in qualifying and the race.
Drivers have also been warned not to drive unnecessarily slowly around Turns 12 and 13 – the end of the curved full-throttle section – and will be reported to the stewards if they do so.
