As part of the FIA’s ongoing push to improve safety, drivers are now going to have to adhere to a stricter speed limit when passing through double yellow flag zones during both safety car and virtual safety car procedures.
Previously, the only requirement on drivers to react to double yellows was in the International Sporting Code, which required them to “reduce...speed significantly, do not overtake, and be prepared to change direction or stop."
Lap times in qualifying are deleted when double yellows are out to discourage drivers from taking risks.
However, when running behind the safety car or virtual safety car, the presence of a double yellow flag area did not trigger any extra requirement to further slow down.
And in fact, with the way timing deltas worked on those occasions, drivers could sometimes be running faster than normal in a section of track to recover time lost earlier in a sector.
From now on, however, drivers will be forced to hit a designated speed limit specifically through a double yellow flag area when they are under safety car or virtual safety car conditions.
FIA technical director Tim Goss believed the imposition of a specific speed limit would assist drivers, and make things safer for track workers.
Source: Autosport