Collisions and who gets blamed

When two cars touch, the stewards ask one question: was one driver wholly or mostly to blame? If yes, that driver is penalised. If the fault is shared, or it was just two drivers racing hard and running out of room, it's a racing incident and nobody is punished.

Answering that question is the hardest part of the stewards' job. To make it more consistent, the FIA publishes driving standards guidelines that set out who has the right to a corner when two cars arrive side by side. The general rules of wheel-to-wheel racing are on the rules of racing page. This page is about how blame is worked out when it goes wrong.

#Overtaking on the inside

When a car tries to pass on the inside of a corner, it's entitled to room if:

• its front axle is at least alongside the other car's mirrors before and at the apex,
• it didn't simply dive in from a long way back at the last moment,
• the move is under control, and
• it could make the corner within the track limits.

If all of that is true, the car on the outside has to leave space. Squeezing them into a collision or forcing them off is likely to be penalised.

If the attacker was never properly alongside, they don't have that right. A late lunge that ends in contact is usually blamed on the driver making the lunge.

#Overtaking on the outside

Passing round the outside is harder, and the guidelines ask more of the attacker. To be given room, their front axle has to be ahead of the other car's front axle at the apex, and they need to be in control and able to make the corner within the track limits.

If they're only alongside, the inside car can take its normal line, and the outside car may have to back out or run wide.

#Chicanes and S-bends

For a quick sequence of corners, priority generally goes to whoever had it at the first part. From 2026 the stewards also look at the sequence as a whole, so a driver can't use the first corner to claim a place and then take the second one in a way that pushes their rival off.

#What else the stewards look at

The guidelines are a starting point. In real incidents the stewards also consider:

• whether either driver tried to avoid the collision,
• whether a driver released the brakes late just to get alongside and claim priority,
• the type of corner, the kerbs, and how worn each car's tyres were,
• whether a lock-up or a small correction really meant the driver had lost control. The 2026 guidelines say these don't automatically count as losing control,
• whether the car being overtaken "disappeared" from the attacker's view. The guidelines are clear that it can't just vanish: both drivers have to account for each other.

#Defending

A defending driver is allowed one change of direction to protect their position. Moving back towards the racing line before the corner is allowed, as long as they leave a car's width for anyone alongside.

What they can't do:

• move more than once on a straight to block,
• move in the braking zone in reaction to the attacker. This is dangerous because the car behind is already committed. A first offence can earn the black and white flag, with penalties after that,
• force another car off the track,
• crowd a car that's already alongside towards the wall or the grass.

#Typical penalties

If the driver at fault has already retired, the stewards usually turn the penalty into a grid drop at the next race.

#Why decisions sometimes feel inconsistent

Two incidents that look alike on TV can get different outcomes, and fans notice. Part of it is the detail: a few tenths of a metre in where the front axle was at the apex changes who had the right to the corner. Part of it is that the stewards panel changes from race to race. And part of it is that the guidelines leave room for judgement on purpose, because no two incidents are quite the same.

A well-known example is the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton collided at the first chicane and both retired. The stewards decided Verstappen was predominantly to blame because he went for a move without being far enough alongside, and gave him a 3-place grid penalty for the next race.