F1 Safety Car Rules to be amended

2010 Mercedes Benz SLS-AMG F1 Safety Car Front Angle

2010 F1 Safety Car

The erstwhile king of formula 1 returned this season to stake his claim on the crown, and so far he hasn’t made quite the impact everyone expected. To be fair, flashes of brilliance have been noticed and one gets the impression that even though the Mercedes might just not have the legs, Michael Schumacher hasn’t lost his wily driving skills and cunning that made him famous or infamous, depending on which legion you belong to.

Karun crashes out in Monaco bringing out the SC

Well, one thing is for sure… with his return, he has sparked off yet another controversy. And his old sparring partner Alonso takes centre stage with Schumacher. Let me take you through the chain of events and the rules behind which much has been talked about following Sunday, the 16^th of May. In an incident packed Monaco GP, where the safety car was deployed in the last few laps of the race owing to an incident involving Jarno Trulli and Karun Chandhok the final lap was under the safety car when it went in at the last corner. And Schumacher went on to overtake Alonso to take 6^th position across the line.

El matador in action.

In previous editions till the 2010 season, overtaking was not allowed till the cars crossed the start/finish line after the safety car went in, but recently the rule was amended to such that cars can overtake once the safety car crosses the pit lane entrance and the SC signs and yellow flags go green. But, contradicting this is a FIA regulation stating that if the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed, the safety car will enter the pit lane at the end of the final lap and the cars shall finish the race without overtaking. Now, you would say the rule book is crystal clear and the stewards awarding Schumacher a penalty was well according to the rules. Yes, but lets consider the Mercedes GP and Schumacher’s point of view.

According to FIA Race Control, a sign was displayed which said: Safety Car In this lap and yellow flags turned green which means only one thing: RACE. And that’s how Mercedes GP read the script. Michael Schumacher was so cock-sure that he smiled sheepishly at post race interviews, evidently happy of pulling off another one on Alonso! But the stewards didn’t find it so funny and awarded him with a 20 second penalty which saw him bumped down to 12^th. Mercedes GP did initially appeal this, but then withdrew their appeal. And the story doesn’t end there!

Schumacher whizzes past the cam in Monaco

Recently the FIA said they would clarify the rule and amend it so that there is no scope for interpreting it the way Ferrari and Mercedes did in different, yet equally right ways. One shouldn’t be surprised that this isn’t the first rule that has been changed when Michael Schumacher has been racing!

According to the FIA, “adjustments to the regulations are necessary to clarify the procedure that cars must meet when the last lap is controlled by the Safety Car whilst also ensuring that the signaling for teams and drivers is made more clear.” These adjustments are expected to be approved by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council next month.

The full statement from the FIA: Press release
The problems identified during the final lap of the Monaco Grand Prix, counting for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, showed a lack of clarity in the application of the rule prohibiting overtaking behind the Safety Car. Adjustments to the regulations are necessary to clarify the procedure that cars must meet when the last lap is controlled by the Safety Car whilst also ensuring that the signalling for teams and drivers is made more clear.
These adjustments will help to avoid the problem which occurred during the Monaco Grand Prix from happening in the future. The Formula One Commission, upon a proposal of the F1 Sporting Working Group will submit an amendment to the Sporting Regulations to address this issue. These amendments will be considered by the World Motor Sport Council at its next meeting in Geneva on June 23.