Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne was an eventful and controversial one, which finished under Safety Car conditions after three separate red flag stoppages.
Two standing restarts took place – the second of which took place on the penultimate lap, resulting in carnage through the field.At the end of the race, some were left thrilled, while others were left with a sour taste in their mouth. With decades of experience watching, commentating on and writing about motorsport, what did RaceFans’ writers make of the Australian Grand Prix ‘spectacle’?
The show or the sport?
While F1 lately prefers to use the red flag rather than a Safety Car to for the benefit of ‘the show’, the opposite was once the case. After the Safety Car entered regular use in the nineties it was often deployed instead of a red flag following major crashes as the powers-that-be felt it was better for television to keep the cars running. So when eight cars were eliminated in a huge crash at the start of Melbourne’s 2002 grand prix, the race went on.
But what spoiled the Australian Grand Prix wasn’t only decisions arguably made with an eye on the spectacle. Familiar flaws such as questionable rules and incomprehensible stewarding decisions played a role too.
If the first red flag was thrown to create drama, it failed, as it allowed everyone to change to hard tyres and nurse them to the finish. This was thanks to a feature of F1’s rules drivers have derided for years, which allows penalty-free tyre changes during red flag periods. “The worst rule ever invented,” as Lando Norris once called it.
The final standing restart produced some unfathomable calls from the stewards. Why does Carlos Sainz Jnr deserve a penalty for crashing into Fernando Alonso, when Logan Sargeant isn’t even investigated for crashing into Nyck de Vries, and Pierre Gasly goes unpunished for rejoining the track in the path of other cars, driving to the opposite side of the course and putting his team mate in the wall?
The decision to reset the running order ahead of the final restart smacked of convenience. The pointless spectacle of the field trundling around behind the Safety Car for one more lap served only to grossly amplify the effect of Sainz’s penalty.
Doubtful rules, questionable interpretations and an appetite drama taking priority over the competition. It seems little has improved in the year-and-a-half since the farcical end to the 2021 season. Time for F1 to focus on improving the sport instead of the show.
Keith Collantine
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Keeping fans in suspense
In no other sport does the outcome of an event get decided hours after it has officially ended. VAR (the Video Assistant Referee) allows footballers to have a decision presented to them at the time if a goal appears offside – whether everyone agrees with the result is a different story. Umpires are helped on a cricket pitch by the other kind of ‘DRS’ (the Decision Review System) yet a game is always decided before the player leaves the green. But motorsport seems to be on another level – and the Australian Grand Prix left even the drivers questioning what on earth had happened.
Haas had a point – no matter how far-fetched some critics may have felt the protest was. The trouble is that the order for that roll around after the third red flag has an element of human discretion about it – the FIA could have taken the order from the second safety car line (a line that’s located on the run to the first corner that offers a timing point) but as some crossed it while on their way to crashing out of the race, the FIA went for the restart order. However, instead of just communicating that, it became a guessing game.
Overcompensation perhaps played a part after the events of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but was I a casual viewer watching this at home, I would not have a clue what was happening. The sport needs to remember it is for entertainment, and the overcomplicated rules and lack of explaining are leaving it exposed to ridicule.
Claire Cottingham
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Not worth the late night
This was far from the worst event I’ve ever witnessed as a fan of Formula 1. No competitor, marshal, or spectator was gravely injured or worse. It wasn’t two laps of parading in a never-ending monsoon. My family didn’t have to pay hundreds if not thousands to drive to Indianapolis to watch a glorified six-car Bridgestone tyre test. But it wasn’t good either.
Except that this race’s natural chaos factor was ruined when Alexander Albon’s crash brought out a red flag for barrier repairs and clean-up. George Russell may have been strategically compromised as a consequence, but his power unit was destined to fail spectacularly. Until Kevin Magnussen suffered what we technically termed a ‘skill issue’ out of turn two with just a handful of laps to go, this race was going to be defined by Max Verstappen winning by a crushing margin.
To be certain, any one of the three standing starts was likely to produce the kind of vehicular carnage that spilled from the first chicane down to the hairpin turn four. But the intensity of a two-lap ‘dash for the cash’ with precious championship points and a bigger share of the constructors’ championship prize pool at stake, only caused the probability to spike.
The concept of a race ending under control of a Safety Car feels repulsive to the average American motorsport fan, which is what I grew up around. I can remember vividly when fans at Talladega pelted Jeff Gordon with beer cans after he had the audacity to win a race under caution. Not long after, NASCAR brought the green-white-chequered rule – a staple of grass roots oval racing – into the Cup Series.IndyCar isn’t above throwing a late red flag in races – even the Indianapolis 500 – to try to ensure a competitive finish. North American sports are famously tie-phobic – and finishing a race under Safety Car is as close to an unsatisfying 0-0 draw as one could have in motorsport.
Australia was an example of how the desire to have a competitive finish at all costs can go wrong. Not gravely wrong, but wrong enough to leave many North American viewers on the East Coast wishing they could have just slept in instead of staying awake until 3:30am to watch… whatever the hell kind of hot mess this was.
RJ O’Connell
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Celebrating the chaos
It’s time to stand up tall, head held high and declare loudly and proudly: Formula 1 is supposed to be a chaotic sport. Or, at least, more chaotic than it often is.
Twenty 320km/h carbon fibre tubs piloted by some of the most mentally-sharp, competitive minds on the planet pulling five Gs mere millimetres from each other – even around public roads in some cases. When you’re watching week after week, it’s easy to forget how absolutely bonkers a sport this truly is.
Modern F1 is so hyper-professional, so impossibly optimised. Every variable is considered. And from the pit wall to the cockpit, the teams at the very front of the field hardly ever make mistakes. Except maybe Ferrari.
So what is wrong with some genuine chaos, the likes of which we saw in Albert Park on Sunday? No one should ever crave a crash-fest, but whether it was Albon’s race-changing early error or Magnussen’s bizarre shunt that prompted the second suspension, those moments were an excellent reminder that a grand prix is always, always under threat of being transformed in an instant.
That doesn’t mean sporting integrity doesn’t matter – absolutely it does. But it’s also possible for the balance to swing too far towards some ideal of cosmic sporting justice. F1 has already tried aggregate times after red flags to preserve existing gaps when the race stops – a fairer system, sure, but do any of us really want to see that?
It’s not the FIA’s fault that the ‘world’s best drivers’ collided on the final restart. And while Alpine, Haas and others have every right to curse their misfortune, at least the rules were followed this time.
Sunday’s race may not have been palatable for some. But there are 20 races remaining in 2023 – and it’d be astonishing if any are as manic as Melbourne. So let’s embrace a little bit of chaos in Formula 1. Let’s keep the spice.
Will Wood
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Nitin Patel (@nitin24)
3rd April 2023, 18:38
What if you were not allowed to make your mandated alternate tire selection during a red flag race? In this case, the first red flag would have allowed drivers to change tires if they wanted, but would ensure they still had to make another stop.
In another case, it would penalize a driver that starts the race on hards and intending to make a late stop if a red flag comes out, but that situation is far more rare and unlikely to decide the top positions of a race.
Leroy (@g-funk)
3rd April 2023, 19:07
It’s an interesting idea. The other thought I have had while watching the teams change totally undamaged tyres and repair even the slightest damage during red flags, is that IndyCar sends you to the back of the pack if you come into the pits while they are closed. F1 could say that all repairs during red flag periods are not allowed, but if you need to actually make repairs (change punctured tyres, front wings, etc.) you can do that but you have to start from the back of the grid when the race restarts (or from the pit lane if a standing restart)
Jere (@jerejj)
3rd April 2023, 19:41
@nitin24 @g-funk
Penalizing for necessary changes for the sake of penalizing would be unfair, & generally, zero reasons for doing anything against tyre & other changes during a stoppage.
Yes, effectively a free pit stop, but no worse than a free stop during an SC or VSC neutralization.
Leroy (@g-funk)
3rd April 2023, 20:16
@jerejj I think reasonable people can disagree here. My primary issue is that during a red flag, the pit stop is “free”, while during an SC or VSC, it is “cheap”. To me, and I acknowledge I am probably in the minority, there is quite a bit of difference between “free” and “cheap”. Cheap I am ok with. Free I have more problems with.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
4th April 2023, 13:57
I agree. A red flag in effect neutralises everything that has gone on before and if tyres can be changed at this stage it seems like an artificial manipulation of the race. They should get rid of this rule at least. I know it adds some randomness but I don’t think it’s desirable.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
4th April 2023, 14:33
100% agree on cheap over free.
By all means, change tyres for free under red, but not without still requiring an actual pitstop at some point.
tielemst
4th April 2023, 12:38
Don’t agree, I feel the free pit stop has to go. When you go in a VSC or SC you still can lose track position. This is a part of the race. On a red flag however, the race has stopped. Nothing should be altered on cars during a red flag period. When the race resumes everybody can go to the pits and get their tires changed if needed. And for damaged cars, you can work on them after the restart, just as you would work on a damaged car that limped to the pits. When massive repairs would have to be made during a red flag period, you are essentially out of the race and should be treated as such.
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
3rd April 2023, 23:20
@nitin24 Putting that restriction on could penalise a driver who didn’t choose to stop before the red flag even worse than the current rules penalise someone who stopped just before. They could find themselves effectively a pitstop behind, only unlike the reverse of the Russell/Sainz scenario, the field would now be fully bunched up for a restart so they would likely lose even more positions when they have to stop again.
Grapmg
4th April 2023, 9:57
Why change tyres during a red flag? Especially when you realise that we saw only some gravel on track and the tyres are fine. Maybe some human logic should be allowed in these circumstances and a race director makes the decisions instead of blindly follow the rules
Deep Sky
7th April 2023, 0:25
100%. It seems the tyre change permitted under red flags due to genuine safety concerns is in reality only a 10%-20% scenario occurrence yet it’s ruining the race order for at least 80% of red flags.
I hate more rules but there needs to be a clarification when tyre changes under red flags are permitted. The flags for the Albon and Magnusson incidents didn’t warrant them.
The Edge (@the-edge)
4th April 2023, 14:25
@nitin24 The problem is if you PIT after a SC or red flag, the field has closed up and you will loose a load of places, may as well just park the car and not bother to race, as even if you were in 1st, you’d likely come back out last
There is simply no solution fair to everyone, which is why we are where we are
Leroy (@g-funk)
3rd April 2023, 19:03
Except this was manufactured chaos. Throwing the red flags and having standing restarts was always going to produce what happened on Sunday. As the IndyCar race in Texas showed, you can have a race finish under caution and still be incredibly exciting.
Jere (@jerejj)
3rd April 2023, 19:43
@g-funk Indeed. IndyCar (& F1 pre-2021) shows that ‘occasional’ neutralized finishes aren’t the world’s end, so race control should stop being obsessed about trying to avoid these at all costs.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
4th April 2023, 13:58
+ 1
Jere (@jerejj)
3rd April 2023, 19:39
The 2002 opening lap chaos is another past example that proves the excessiveness of red-flagging over things that were always manageable under SC neutralization pre-2020, meaning they’ll always be.
Carbon fiber debris & gravel quantities aren’t any higher these days, so an unjustifiable argument, even by modern standards.
I’ve already made my points clear in other articles, but FIA (the responsible party) should return to their past approach of only ever resorting to red-flagging when truly necessary & justified, most certainly never for entertainment purposes, & the same when the choice is between SC & VSC.
David BR (@david-br)
3rd April 2023, 19:55
@jerejj I prefer the red flags. Who seriously enjoys watching Formula 1 cars trundling around behind a SC car for lap after lap?! I’m fine with VSCs, one of the better ideas Formula 1 has had. But safety cars seem to go on interminably and take all the dynamic out of the race. They always seem to go on for 2 or 3 laps more than necessary. At least red flags do allow some drama. The tyre change / car rebuilding rule needs addressing though.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
3rd April 2023, 22:15
@david-br More fun than spending 10 or more minutes watching the cars stand still in the pits/grid (the procedure can’t be done faster than that for regulatory reasons), which is longer than a typical Safety Car period – before considering that doing things “for the show” risks situations like today, where at least one if not two of the red restarts (depending on where one stands on against-regulations excuses for the FIA to throw away teams’ budgets for things that were unlikely to be deemed credible) failed to bring entertainment of any description, let alone sport.
David BR (@david-br)
4th April 2023, 0:23
@alianora-la-canta I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on that, I often find the safety car periods excruciating for the reasons I said. I much prefer a ‘time out’ in the pits (assuming not too long) and then back to the race. I trust treat it like half-time in a football match, say. In part that’s because Formula 1 now calls out a SC even when a damaged car is parked up by the driver in places almost 99.5% unlikely to be hit by another car still racing. I’m not saying they shouldn’t be safety conscious – it’s not my risk to take after all – but if they going to stop racing much more frequently, I’d prefer less time to be wasted just driving round waiting for the track to be cleared.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th April 2023, 5:32
@david-br Unsurprisingly, I side with @alianora-la-canta here.
I would’ve probably replied with largely similar wording.
David BR (@david-br)
4th April 2023, 12:58
@jerejj Fair enough. My view is that Formula 1 is trying to morph into another version of itself. I’ve never thought driving behind the SC for 6+ laps a good look for the sport. I mind the red flags far less than the current sprint races. I’d prefer them shorter, based on qualifying order but with two races: one normal, one reversed, then aggregate the two race positions to determine the GP grid. If Formula 1 wants a ‘show,’ do it properly.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
4th April 2023, 13:58
I completely agree.
David BR (@david-br)
3rd April 2023, 19:47
I agree 100% with Will on this one. Formula 1 should be chaotic – ‘safely’ chaotic, of course, within the limits of a still potentially dangerous sport. My enjoyment has been in decline since F1 became over fussy about driving in wet conditions, rain – I mean we had driving in monsoons in the past. Now a sprinkle of rain and there’s ‘too much spray’ and the show is red flagged.
My disagreement was with the ‘reset’ after the second standing restart. If you want spectacle then there has to be jeopardy, luck good and bad. I’d rather have seen Alonso lose out and Haas win, so what if it’s ‘unfair’? The unfairness wasn’t down to intervention by the race director in this case, just down to some bad driving from other racers. Instead, though, we had chaos followed by a technocratic attempt to put everyone back in the ‘right order.’ Meh.
David BR (@david-br)
3rd April 2023, 19:49
PS. The discussion is a nice feature! Good idea.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
3rd April 2023, 19:52
Interesting thoughts. Will summarised the problem very well in his comment (@willwood), “So what is wrong with some genuine chaos, the likes of which we saw in Albert Park on Sunday? No one should ever crave a crash-fest…”. The problem at Melbourne is everyone is left with the impression those in charge did crave a crash-fest. Yes, I want to see things happen, I want to admire drivers who keep control of their car as they push right to the edge of the performance window, and teams who can change 4 wheels in 2 seconds. There’s a statistical probability of error, so I have to accept things do go wrong, but I want the problem to be with the team or the car or the driver. I don’t want fake problems to rule the day. I suspect managing a Grand prix is like good driving: it isn’t spectacular. That race result didn’t need to happen, and it shouldn’t have happened. What we got was for the spectacle. There could have been a race result where our attention today is on the drivers and the teams and the cars, instead we have a race result where our attention is away from them and on the race management and the Stewarding.
I constantly try to remind myself that when I say to myself “Oh well” I really mean “I should have done that better”. Hopefully those in charge at the Melbourne GP are now saying “Oh well … “.
José Lopes da Silva
3rd April 2023, 19:55
I realize that Verstappen showed again that he is not dropping the ball, chasing the win whenever the opportunity appears, that Hamilton got a record 17 consecutive season podium, and that there was useless shenanigans in the end.
This is getting out of hand.
Likely it’s the first time since 1996 that I’m not really interested in knowing the details of what happened in a race, even after not watching it.
ajpennypacker (@ajpennypacker)
3rd April 2023, 22:38
So you had no problem in 2002, 2004, 2011, 2013, 2019, 2020? Because all of those where absolutely dreadful year where a driver, with a much-too-dominant car, coasted to many wins virtually unchallenged.
Also, it’s been 3 race so far. Red Bull are clearly dominant. But outside of that, the racing has been excellent.
Radoye
3rd April 2023, 20:20
Just a couple of quick points:
– The cars should be under parc ferme conditions during red flag periods. Only once the race gets into restart procedure the teams should be allowed to start working on the cars, which would basically mean they get to restart from the back. If any work is done under red flag the car would have to do a drivethrough after restart.
– When an incident requiring race to be stopped happens right after the start before cars reach the first sector, rather than throwing immediate red flag (with the ensuing confusion about the race order) why not neutralize the race with SC / VSC until everyone passes the 1st sector and only then go red? It would not be any less safe that immediate red because all cars (that are still capable of moving) have already gone past the scene of incident, and it would allow maintaining the proper order on track rather than reverting to before the last (re)start.
The way things are being done lately feel a bit like as if F1 not only tries to add to the show by promoting chaos on track but also controversy off track. IMHO the two suggestions above will help to keep things more fair.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
3rd April 2023, 22:08
It cannot be assumed that all moving cars have passed the accident, thus it is not possible to bring in the requested regulation.
Radoye
4th April 2023, 16:55
We are discussing situations immediately after starts or standing restarts, i think it is very safe to assume all cars would be passing the scene of accident within seconds. From the safety standpoint it would make no difference going VSC first and then red or straight to red.
One exception might be the cars that start from pitlane, but they too would be obliged to slow when VSC is declared, and they can be further warned by waving flags. Double waved yellow means “slow down, prepare to stop” – it should be enough unless drivers disobey – but then they could just as well disobey the red flag too.
Going to VSC / SC would neutralize the race and allow cars to pass the 1st sector line, thus recording the proper racing order after which the race direction can decide to go full red if need be.
SteveR (@stever)
3rd April 2023, 20:55
It would have made sense to call the race over after the last red flag and revert to the previous lap for finishing positions.
PeterG
3rd April 2023, 21:00
I think something that needs to be mentioned is the move to standing restarts which was something that was done purely for the show.
I want to mention that as the reason they moved away from standing restarts late in the race was that they were deemed less safe given how brakes will be worn, The track off the racing line covered with debris & not everyone may have a new set of tyres available.
Additionally races stopped late on never used to be restarted partly because of the above but also because it used to be felt that turning a Grand Prix into a few lap dash with the lottery of a standing start wasn’t fair from a sporting perspective and went against what a Grand Prix Motor race was about.
It’s a Grand Prix & not a short dash to the end where your race until that point can be undone off a standing start where you may be on the dirty side of the grid.
Had the chaos not happened behind would Alonso’s brilliant race to 3rd been destroyed by a show over sport red flag & standing restart 2 lap dash to the flag been fair or sporting?
A race shouldn’t come down to something like that so late in the day because it renders the rest of the GP completely pointless.
uzsjgb (@uzsjgb)
3rd April 2023, 21:05
I thought everybody was in agreement that if marshals and recovery vehicles are on track, that we need a red flag for safety reasons. Just a few races back (Sainz/Gasly incident in Suzuka) the FIA was criticized for not throwing a red flag.
Endangering track workers and drivers, because we don’t want late restarts does not seem like a very sensible position to take. I don’t think the FIA will be pressured into making the sport less safe for the enjoyment of some fans.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
3rd April 2023, 22:07
@uzsjgb If you’ve got a recovery vehicle or marshals on the hot zone of a track, then it has to be at least a Safety Car with the cars collected (and a red flag should definitely be considered). Part of the reason the FIA was criticised for not throwing a red flag in the Sainz/Gasly Suzuka incident was that the race shouldn’t have been started due to poor visibility (which among other things aggravated the sight lines), partly due to the FIA not keeping track of the cars or managing the VSC properly, and partly due to the fact the recovery vehicle was clipping the racing line.
If the FIA had chosen to follow the regulations yesterday, a lot of danger could have been avoided.
PeterG
3rd April 2023, 23:29
@uzsjgb The thing after Dainz at Suzuka was that a red flag should be considered if visibility is poor and there’s a high risk of aquaplaning even when behind the safety car.
On a dry day with good visibility there is zero reason to use a red flag given how a bit of debris and even a stopped car can quickly, easily and safely be covered by a safety car.
If your going to use a red flag every time there’s something on track that needs picking up then what’s the point of the safety car?
A red flag is only necessary in extreme circumstances. If there’s a lit of debris or multiple damaged cars blocking the track or if a barrier or something has been damaged and requires a lengthy repair.
Red flags have never and should never be used for bits of debris or even single stopped cars that are off the track in a safe place. It was done yesterday purely for the show we all know that because it’s belatedly obvious to anyone thats been watching F1 for more than a cup of coffee.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th April 2023, 13:36
@uzsjgb
Wrong, SC deployment has been the general agreement since 2014 with recovery vehicles (& marshals) on track.
Even more red-flagging for the sake of red-flagging (which has already happened unnecessarily many times) would bring even more excessiveness.
Iosif (@afonic)
3rd April 2023, 21:05
I don’t understand why the red flag has to be instant. They could have waited until everyone passed sector 1 and then throw it, that way it would fair to drivers that actually didn’t crash, like the Hulk.
Plus the Sainz penalty was fair but inconsistent. First lap, first corner incidents with cold tyres have always been judged differently. It it was literally first lap, I doubt he would have taken a penalty.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
4th April 2023, 1:14
I’m not sure, when you hit and spin a driver like that you pretty much always get a penalty, raikkonen even got 10 sec when he spun hamilton in silverstone 2018; what doesn’t make sense here is that the circumstances (all cars stacked up) make this penalty around 5x more effective than usual.
David BR (@david-br)
4th April 2023, 12:48
@afonic Totally agree about not calling the red flag instantly, they could wait until a sector timing point has been passed by ‘all surviving cars.’
On the other hand, I agree with @esploratore1 about the penalty, spinning round another driver is very often (and should be) a penalty even on the first lap, unless you’re basically sandwiched and have no option but to collide with someone, or the other driver has cut in front. Misjudging the braking distance is a driver error (however difficult with cold tyres) and should be penalized when it harms another driver’s race. I thought a 10-second penalty was right. And really just tough luck if that means dropping 10+ places.
Iosif (@afonic)
4th April 2023, 15:14
@david-br I kind of agree about the penalty when spinning another driver, but many times before incidents on the first lap get no penalty at all.
David BR (@david-br)
4th April 2023, 15:42
@afonic Well it’s definitely inconsistent. Sometimes it really is a racing incident, just too quick and too many variables to hold any one driver ‘mostly responsible.’ Other times it does seem like one driver’s misjudgement in braking, steering or accelerating – those times, a penalty when you cause another driver to lose positions or go out seems right.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
3rd April 2023, 22:02
It is, however, the FIA’s fault that it can’t count time and decided to restart despite this being against the timing regulations.
theRealMax (@millionus)
3rd April 2023, 22:29
I see you have 3 choices, VSC, SC and red flag. In all those situations they chose the highest option. Are they slowly rendering the other options useless. Basically like tyres, you have wet, inters and dry, but the wet and inters are so bad we’ll never use them.
lyndamarks
3rd April 2023, 23:12
I don’t think I’ve ever seen any series ever use a red flag to clean gravel off a track during a race so that one was ridiculous.
Likewise i don’t think ive ever seen a red flag used for a bit of debris on track. It’s usually only used for extreme cases such as barrier damage or if the track is blocked by cars.
So using it for the Kmag situation was clearly purely for the show as that debris could easily and safely have been handed by the safety car which is the sort of incident it was introduced to handle.
I think there’s been way more red flags in the Liberty Media era than over the previous 30 years combined. So are we suddenly getting a lot more serious accidents that are red flag worthy or has the way the red flag is been used suddenly different. I think it’s pretty clear it’s now been used for the show more than just safety.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
4th April 2023, 1:17
Yes, and not only the red flag, they went overboard with safety, in the 90s, AFTER imola 1994, drivers still raced in full wet conditions and safety cars were very rare even then, only when absolutely necessary; fast forward 23 years and we have 19 laps of cars following the safety car in fuji! That would’ve never happened back then, and now it took another step, where you can only race in intermediate conditions and expect a SC or red flag as soon as someone goes off.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
4th April 2023, 1:17
Ops, only 13 years, was talking about fuji 2007 in heavy rain.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage (@davedai)
4th April 2023, 1:52
Except that Westcott confirms a spectator was injured by flying carbon fibre from Kmag incident. Lacerations.
So who knows how much fibre was where?
Westcott also hopes the guy is OK. Oh I’m sure he or his reps will be in contact to let you know.🤕
Jere (@jerejj)
4th April 2023, 13:38
@davedai The carbon fiber on track was safely retrievable with an SC train, so entertainment was the sole motive.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th April 2023, 13:37
@lyndamarks You couldn’t be more right.
Jogo
3rd April 2023, 23:34
I can’t specify any year in which people weren’t complaining about something. Slicks, refueling, KERS, DRS, one compound, ten compounds, hard is too soft and soft is too hard, Tilkedromes, HALO is ugly, bring back the V12/V8, allow this and ban that and the other way around. It’s just never ends.
steph
3rd April 2023, 23:35
F1 – taking no action with a car stranded on 300kmh straight, but throwing red flags for a piece of debris.
The end of the race was a massive farce, should’ve been VSC or an SC finish at most.
however the way things are going, i doubt those responsible will admit anything being wrong, much less learn from it.
Clown times
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
4th April 2023, 4:21
The only one that had legal resources to confront these farces was Aston Martin. They should sue F1 for reducing exposure to Aston Martin safety cars.
John Ballantyne
4th April 2023, 8:00
Almost every race meeting I’ve attended in the last twenty years has had an event “called” due to a red flag incident near to the final lap. Once again the F1 fans have had to wait for half an hour without knowing what was going on a then going home without knowing what had happened. Competition rules have been clear for decades, why does F1 get so confused about them?
S
4th April 2023, 8:26
Apparently you are either ‘confused’ or aren’t familiar with F1’s rules, which state that Formula 1 GP’s run to a prescribed distance and/or time. Those conditions are only altered when Race Control deem it necessary.
The Melbourne GP hadn’t reached either of those conditions at the time of the final red flag, nor was it necessary to shorten the event for other reasons.
To do so unnecessarily would have been “confusing” to say the very least…
“Completely wrong and against the rules” would be a more accurate description.
It wasn’t a great way to end the race, most would agree – but it’s what the rules dictate in those circumstances. While those are the rules, they must be adhered to, right?
Heaven forbid another pantomime reaction like the aftermath of Abu Dhabi 2021.
Mayrton
4th April 2023, 8:46
Hands down farcical and after the 2021 season an ultimate low again. Very worrying and a threat to the sports credibility.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
4th April 2023, 8:48
I can’t find anything positive to say about that farce.
Not sure whether the race director(s) are spooked by 2021’s finale and so anxious not to have that happen that they’re just throwing a red flag every time, or whether it’s a case of “we absolute have to finish under racing conditions and we’ll do whatever’s necessary” but it was just simply nonsensical.
Was my first “live” watching of a race for this season, and likely will be my last.
So incredibly disappointed.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
4th April 2023, 8:58
I think trying to finish the race under green flag conditions is fine. No one likes a checkered under safety car conditions.
Magnussen’s crash seemed a fair cause for a red flag. That wheel desintegrated and even a piece of carbon injured an spectator. I rather see the red flag than a Verstappen accident like the one in Baku 2021.
But the Albon crash… I don’t know why they threw a red flag there (not sure if the barrier needed heavy repairs), it seemed fixable under SC conditions, and it’d disrupt the race a lot less. If it was under a heavy storm like at Japan last year, yeah, put the red flag up. But on a sunny day without any hazard, just sweeping the track with brooms for a lap or two would’ve been just fine…
Jere (@jerejj)
4th April 2023, 13:41
@fer-no65 Zero justification for red-flagging over a carbon fiber piece safely retrievable under SC neutralization, especially when compared to much worse situations such as Kubica’s Montreal shunt that also featured extra vehicles, including an ambulance on track.
All red-flaggins in the last race were 100% unjustified based on countless past instances & so were most 2020 & ’21 cases.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
5th April 2023, 8:39
@jerejj the fact that in the past they didn’t red flag races is no justification for not red flagging now. Using your point, an ambulance on track is okay with the race just under SC conditions. I don’t think we’ll ever see that again.
It wasn’t just “a” carbon fibre piece, it was all over the track and that’s a pretty fast place on the track. That being said, restarting the race from a standing start isn’t that safe either, as we’ve seen. That’s what needs changing: standing restarts are ridiculous…
Jere (@jerejj)
5th April 2023, 11:05
@fer-no65 Not red-flagging in the more distant past is effectively a justification against excessive red-flagging these days, as situations that have always been safe for SC will always remain safe for SC because changing from safe to unsafe over time is impossible.
With the carbon fiber pieces on track, avoiding them by driving away from them in an SC train was an option, like driving through the pit lanes if something is on an S/F straight.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
4th April 2023, 14:12
I know safety is a paramount consideration but I still feel that if an incident can be handled under a SC or a VSC then in nearly all circumstances this should happen. This always worked up until 2 or 3 years ago and it should work now. Red flags have become increasingly common and it seems something of a coincidence that this has happened since Liberty took over the sport. I completely realise this is not their rules but the FIAs but are they under influence to spice up the action?
The main exception to this I think, as others have mentioned, is where there is some other circumstance like rain, poor visibility or the particular location of an incident in an Albon or Magnussen crash like situation. In this case a red flag would be justified.
Even with a red flag though again I think the ability to change tyres and make repairs, other than those causing a danger to others, should be removed.
We all like an element of the unexpected which is exciting to most people. Of course over the years a lot of the chances for unexpected events have diminished with increased reliability and tighter rules. However, I don’t think throwing in somewhat unnecessary restarts, is the way to tackle this and spice up the show.
The Edge (@the-edge)
4th April 2023, 14:14
I thought Sundays race was handle perfectly… for a change
I’d much rather see red flags than a safety car, they should just do away with the SC altogether IMO, just keep VSC for minor incidents
Problem with every other solution is that however you handle things, there’s ALWAYS going to be those who benefit, and those who loose out
At least this way everyone would know where they stand, and we wouldn’t miss out on racing
Leonard ‘Big Lenny’ Persin (@)
4th April 2023, 14:46
So from 2000-2019 we averaged 1 red flag per season.
From 2020 to now we have averaged about 4 red flags per season. Welcome to the show.
I actually think we’ll end up getting to a point where we average a red flag at every other race.