No need to change restart procedure despite Mugello crash according to FIA

Among the many accidents that marred the first Tuscan Grand Prix de Formula 1, the pileup at the restart of the th lap provoked the most comments concerning the responsibilities of the drivers or the regulations.

In fact, the pilots Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton et Valtteri Bottas, then leader of the race, considered that the late extinguishing of the Safety Car's lights could explain the pileup involving Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo), Carlos Sainz Jr. (McLaren), Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Nicholas latifi (Williams).

“They can say whatever they want, storm Michael Masi, the Race Director for the FIA. If we look at the distance between when the light bar goes out and (the moment of passage) on the line of control (in a straight start/finish line), she is no different (from what we see on) other tests. »

For Michael Masi, “there is no need to reshape the recovery rule after a Safety Car regime”, a suggestion raised by many players in the field.

The Australian advances two reasons to stay the course on this procedure. “All competitors had been clearly warned during the drivers' briefing on Thursday evening of two central points. Firstly, that they should not overtake the Safety Car until it had entered the pit lane.

In addition, we reminded them of the unusual location on this circuit of the white control line allowing drivers to overtake an opponent. This is located near the pit exit. » Normally, this line is placed further upstream of the starting grid.

Finally, Michael Masi does not admit to having been surprised by the spectacular images of the pileup. “We saw similar incidents in Baku (Azerbaijan) with a long straight section towards the control line. In these cases, the leader of the peloton often tends to stay at a slow pace in order to avoid giving the following cars a slipstream. The leader is within his rights to act in this way. »

Find it in AUTO issue 2278hebdo, on sale Monday evening digitally and Wednesday on newsstands, the analysis of Formula 1 at Mugello by our special correspondent.