Late Safety Car, Norris Penalty… FIA Explains After Eventful Qatar Race

The day after a somewhat turbulent Qatar Grand Prix, the FIA ​​felt obliged to react. Or rather to justify itself, and this for several reasons. This Monday, the Federation published a press release in which it returned to various episodes, more or less important, of the race.

The main point obviously concerns the rearview mirror of the Williams from Alex Albon which broke away in the middle of the straight before falling back onto the track. Admittedly off course but in a zone of offset to attempt an attack, the element visibly sowed doubt within the race management which was slow to react.

Then we had to wait until Valtteri Bottas pulverizes the part in question by driving over it and the debris causes two punctures, those of Lewis Hamilton et Carlos Sainz, so that the double yellow flag turned into a Safety Car. A sequence that lasted several laps.

And it was at this point that the entire race turned completely on its head 🙃#F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/dyts4q7ZLD

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 1, 2024

« The usual procedure is that the safety car is not deployed if there is little debris, and if it is outside the trajectory, we can read in the FIA ​​press release.

The heavy debris after a car hit the wing mirror, and the punctures, forced the decision to deploy the safety car.. » The Federation specifies that the virtual safety car could not have been « a solution, because the cars were scattered and there was not enough time for a marshal to clear the debris »

Following this incident, the FIA ​​aims to " to analyse this specific case in more detail and will discuss with the stables to see if another way of acting should be chosen in the future »

Norris' penalty 'in line with guidelines'

In addition to this lack of reaction from the FIA, Alex Albon's loss of the wing mirror also resulted in a heavy penalty for Lando Norris. It is moreover Max Verstappen who raised the issue on the radio, reporting that the Englishman had gained time while a double yellow flag was waved over the area of ​​the incident.

The violation was initially noted before the race direction opened an investigation at the end of which the driver McLaren was penalized: 10 seconds of Stop & Go. The worst penalty before a disqualification but completely logical according to the FIA.

« The penalty was in accordance with the penalty guidelines communicated to teams on February 19, 2024she explains. A double yellow flag violation is considered a serious compromise to safety, which is why these violations carry such a severe penalty. »

Regarding the Safety Car lights malfunctioning during its second appearance, the international motorsport watchdog said: " All teams were verbally warned that the safety car was coming in, and so the restart took place normally.. » A problem quickly identified and resolved by the operational team who were able to replace « on time » the safety car for his third entry onto the track.

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