Be my, be my little Safety (Car)

 

Maybe the best ever safety car

The subject of safety cars and how a race should or should not be finished behind it was the main topic of conversation after the Italian GP saw us finish behind one.

Before we delve into each side of this debate, let's take a quick look at the history of this feature of F1.

What is a Safety Car?

Well, to put it simply it is a car that takes to the track to lead the race cars around at a slower pace to allow for safety work to take place on the track.  This mainly means that marshals will be out on track to maybe help move a stranded car or pick up debris after a crash.  

If the issue is too severe a Safety Car situation may be escalated to a Red Flag and the race stops.  If the race was not red flagged then when the track is clear, the Safety Car returns to the pits and the lead car has the job of restarting the race.

A Safety Car might also be deployed in extreme wet weather.  More on that later!

The first use of a safety car was way back in 1973 at the Canadian Grand Prix. It was a Porsche 911 and it's fair to say it's impact on the race was a little on the controversial side.

Honk your horn if you're the leader

The Safety Car did not pick up the correct leader meaning that multiple cars finished out of position and it took many hours before the correct race result was determined.

The usage of the Safety Car was somewhat hit and miss as years went by without one being used at all.  Although we were treated to some crackers in the years when they were used.

One such beauty is what we started the blog with; The Lamborghini Countach

Not even sorry for another Lambo pic!

This was used in Monaco from 1981-1983 but they were not mandatory at all races.

It wasn't until 1993 that the sport formally adopted the Safety Car and the associated regulations at all races throughout the racing calendar.

We then set off on a period of varied cars as the sport cycled through a Fiat Tempra, Ford Escort, Opel Vectra, Honda Prelude, Porsche 911, Lamborghini Diablo, and the Renault Clio Williams.

Senna makes a FIAT cool....nearly

Quite the varied list!  I always wanted a Clio Williams edition but could never afford either the car nor the insurance premium it would have required!

Williams Clio - The one that got away

Then in 1996 Mercedes took the gig and supplied the Safety Car all the way up until 2021 when they then started sharing duties with Aston Martin.

Class of 2022

There have been a number of evolutions to the rules that are in play when a safety car is deployed down the years.  

The main ones being as follows.

Closure of the Pit Lane

Move along now, no entry here

The Pit lane was closed immediately upon deployment of the safety car. Until all the cars had lined up behind the Safety Car and the pit lane open message was given could they enter the pit lane.  If you did decide to enter prior to this then you incurred a 10 second stop/go penalty that had to be taken after the race was green flagged again.  

This rule then got dropped in 2009 as computer software was used to calculate were each car is on the track and the determine when they are allowed to enter the pit lane.

Pit Lane Red Light

Thou shalt not pass!

When the Safety Car and it's train are on the start/finish straight then a red light is displayed at the exit of the pit lane.  No cars are allowed to go beyond the light. If you do exit the pit lane under the red light then you are disqualified. 

Back in 2008 Lewis didn't see the red light and crashed into the back of Kimi who was sat minding his own business at the red light.

The tale of the lapped cars

Prior to 2010, lapped cars were allowed to un-lap themselves and catch back up to the rear of the Safety Car train.  In 2010 this rule was changed so that they could not do this.  It was not a popular change and in 2012 it was reverted back to allowing the lapped cars to pass.

Still not quite happy with this, F1 changed it's mind again and in 2015 another tweak was added to the rules to state that the lapped cars can get out of the way of the leaders and pass the Safety Car, however the Safety Car no longer needs to wait for them to complete the rest of the lap and rejoin the back of the line.

Are we going racing?  Is this a motor race?

The Belgian GP in 2021 has gone down in F1 history as the most ludicrous race ever.  

Yes, even worse than the tire debacle at the US GP in 2005!

You see, the thing with a Safety Car is that both the laps driven and the time taken are judged as being part of the overall two hour time limit and the official lap count of the race.  This meant that the two laps run behind the Safety Car in the monsoon of Spa were counted as official laps.

Highlight reel from Spa 2021

After the race was red flagged, half points were given out to the drivers despite the fact no actual racing had taken place.

Despite the fact the laps counted, there was no opportunity for anyone to change positions.  If you can't change positions then are you actually racing?  

The resounding answer was no and summed up well by Alonso:

"The only thing that I don’t agree with is why they do two laps and they give the points. Because we didn’t race. We didn’t have the chance to score points, many people. I’m P11, I didn’t have any green light lap to score a point and we didn’t score so that’s shocking. There was no way we could race today as we showed. It was only red flag situation or behind Safety Car situation, as we did. So how you can give points to a non-race?"

In response to this the rules were changed for point scoring to state that a minimum of two laps need to be run under fully green flag conditions for the points to come into effect.

THAT moment in Abu Dhabi

No Safety Car discussion is complete without opening up the wound of Abu Dhabi. We won't dive back into the detail here but essentially the world & F1 knows that the rules were not applied that day.  

No Michael....

If you don't know what this is referring to then I'm actually jealous of you as this moment has really driven a wedge into the Lewis/Max fan bases and turned what was maybe a healthy competitive banter divide into a gaping chasm of toxicity.  A chasm from which I wish we could all escape from and leave in the past.

Anyway, the rules have been tightened up to take away any grey area that may (or may not) have existed and allowed the "human error" to have occurred.

This brings us up to date and to the Monza GP.

This race ended under Safety Car protocol.

Boring?

Yes.

Rules followed?

Most definitely.

There is a case as to whether the stricken car of Danny Ric could have been cleared quicker to allow racing to resume but, as it didn't get cleared, the rules dictated that the race should end under Safety Car.

The debate that raged after this was....Should we end races under Safety Cars?

The views basically break down into two schools of thought that are summed up by a Bruce Hornsby and the Range song and a Queen song (just go with me here).

1) That's just the way it is 

Some things never change..

This view accepts that Safety Cars since their inception are for safety first and if they happen to come out at the end of a race, then that's just tough luck as it's part of the rules and can happen from time to time.

There should be no changing this just to pander to the "show" and "real fans" accept that this is part of the sport and should never, ever be changed.

2) Don't stop me now

I'm having such a good time

This view is that racing action is the prime aim of the sport and we need to adjust the rules to allow the races to finish under green flags.  

I've seen this view online being labelled as "typical Americans wanting a show" and the finger of blame being pointed at Liberty Media for trying to put the "show" first or that this is just the view of "new fans" who only found the sport through Drive to Survive like that is some sort of badge of shame to wear.

I have to say that I don't see why the two view points have to be mutually exclusive.  I also don't believe that the desire to see a race finish under racing conditions is a purely American or "new fan" way of thinking.

Personally I totally understand why it was the correct & proper thing to do at Monza.  Was I happy with it? No, but I know the rules were followed.

However, I'm also a fan of the FIA taking a look at viewpoint number two here.  I would love races to end as races and not processions.  

It will require some careful consideration, however, so that a fair way could be found to achieve this.  

A suggestion made by many online directly after Monza was that perhaps a Safety Car incident when a defined percentage of the race distance remains automatically throws a red flag.  

To simulate the restart behind a Safety Car, they could use a Safety Car led rolling start rather than a traditional standing start.  The argument about how a race is distorted by losing all your time difference is moot as the race gets neutralized and all advantage lost under a regular Safety Car anyway to this proposal would not make that any worse.

I stand by the view that the primary purpose of the Safety Car is to ensure a safe environment for the track marshals and anyone needing to respond to a safety issue.

However, I would love for the sport to consider an approach that allows this to remain as the primary focus, but also deliver a proper race to the checkered flag.