Ahead of the Gran Premio Red Bull de Andalucia, MotoGP™ Race Direction and the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards Panel held a briefing with the MotoGP™, Moto2™ and Moto3™ classes to inform the riders of an important update made to the way Yellow Flags are to be managed.
The rulebook has not changed, but the way the rules are to be enforced has been updated. This is in order to improve on-track safety for all riders and marshals involved in all three classes of the FIM MotoGP™ World Championship.
For a number of years, any improvement in sector time achieved under a double Yellow Flag has led to the cancellation of a rider's laptime as a matter of course. From now on, that will now be extended to include single Yellow Flags. A rider can no longer improve their laptime under a Yellow Flag of any kind, and as soon as a rider enters a sector with a Yellow Flag, their laptime will be cancelled. This applies to all Free Practice and Qualifying sessions.
Once a rider has passed the Green Flag indicating the track is clear, they can get back to full speed and continue working as normal. Sector times will still be visible, although the overall laptime will not be valid.
Within races, there is no change. No passing is allowed under a Yellow Flag of any kind.