Breaking news
Formula 1
Masi: No need to review safety car restart rules
FIA Formula 1 race director Michael Masi says there's no need to review the safety car restart rules after the accident in the Tuscan GP – and he dismissed criticism from drivers.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Sep 14, 2020, 1:15 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Twelve drivers were given a warning after a post-race investigation of the accident that eliminated the cars of Kevin Magnussen, Carlos Sainz, Antonio Giovinazzi and Nicholas Latifi, and which led to a red flag delay.
After naming the 12, the FIA stewards noted "that the root cause of this incident was the inconsistent application of throttle and brake, from the final corner along the pit straight, by the above drivers".
They exonerated leader Valtteri Bottas, who is allowed to set the pace and accelerate when he chooses to, while others to avoid a warning were Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, who were second and third, plus Romain Grosjean, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, who were at the back.
Several drivers, including Hamilton, suggested that the safety car lights being switched out late played a key role in triggering the incident, as it led to the field becoming bunched up.
Speaking before the verdict was made official, Masi made it clear that the drivers should know the rules.
"Well, it's still part of an ongoing stewards' investigation so I'm probably not going to go into a blame part," he said.
"But at the end of the day, there's probably some key points to take out of it [and] the drivers were all advised very clearly at the drivers' meeting on Friday night. There were two key parts to remind them.
"One was to ensure that they don't overtake the safety car before the safety car line at pit entry. The second part was, which is unusual for this circuit, is that the control line where they can overtake is located close to the pit lane exit.
"So it's not a surprise, and we've seen similar matters in Baku, with such a long run, let's call it, to the control line where the leader who has every right to dictate the pace has kept it quite slow to try and avoid a slipstream from the cars behind."
Asked about a possible review of procedures, he said: "I don't think there's any need to review the safety car restart rule."
Masi dismissed the suggestion that the safety car lights went out too late.
"Simply put, they can criticise all they want. If we have a look at the distance perspective, from where the lights were extinguished to the control line, probably not dissimilar, if not longer, than a number of other venues.
"So, at the end of the day, the safety car lights go out where they do, the safety car is pitlane. We have the 20 best drivers in the world.
"And as we saw earlier today in the F3 race, those drivers in the junior category had a very, very similar restart to what was occurring in the F1 race, and navigated it quite well, without incident."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Ferrari F1 team is stuck "in a hole" right now, says CEO
Next article Russell: F1's red flag rules need changing
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Latest news
Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 7 h
Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”
How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
7 h
How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
8 h
Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing
Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
14 h
Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe