Does F1 need restart rethink after Melbourne mayhem at Australian GP?
Chaos and confusion reigned supreme at an incident-packed Australian Grand Prix with no fewer thᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚan two Safety Cars and three red flags amid the mayhem in Melbourne.
The first red flag - for gravel and debris thrown onto the track by 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Alex Albon’s shunt - raised question marks and arguably ruined the race. The second, which followed an initial Safety Car period just like the one that preceded it, was again for significant debris that littered the track after 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Kevin Magnussen hit the wall on Lap 54.
This set up a second standing restart and teased the prospect of a thrilling two-lap dash to determine the winner. But chaos ensued when 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Fernando Alonso was pitched into a🎶 spin at Turn 1 and several others crashed, resulting in a third and final red flag.
The FIA applied a similar principle to last year’s British Grand Prix and considered the start void, prompting confusion and controversy over the order and how the race would conclude. After some d𝔉elay, it finished with the order reset and a single tour behind the Safety Car.
A final classification was not published until late in the evening when a subsequent protest of the result by the Haas team was 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:dismissed.
Many observed how the decisions made in Australia reflected F1’s desire to ensure races finish unde𝕴r ꧂green flag conditions, and some argued it highlighted a push towards increased entertainment.
168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Max Verstappen blamed race control for the “mess”, 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:George Russell felt the first red flag was “totally unnecessary”, and even Alonso, who gained more than most from the final stoppage, admitted he was “surpris🍸ed” by the calls.
So is a retღhink, or𝕴 some procedural clarity, needed?
"The whole point of red flagging - it feels like it was just to put on a show,” said McLaren’s 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Lando Norris.
“I’m the one driving the car, so I feel like꧂ I could have been so unlucky for no reason. I easily could have crashed with [Nico] Hulkenberg at the end, because you've got people going off and you're suddenly swerving and things like that.
"So, we've come all the way to Australia but it's so much hard work driving 55/56 laps perfectly and, because they try and put on a show, you just get unlucky and everything can get taken away from yꩲou all of a sudd🉐en.
“I just think it needs a small re-think. I don't think it needs a change, it just needs a small re-think in ♓my opinion."
The dissatisfaction will increase the pressure already facing the FIA. F1’s governing body has regularly been criticised over its decision-making in recent seasons, which peaked at the controversial 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
In the now notorious title-deciding showdown, Michael Masi’s incorrect handling of a late Safety Car directly influenced the championship outcome, denying168澳洲5最新开奖结果: Lewis Hamilton a record eighth title and allowing Verstaꦅppen 𝔍to snatch his first.
And the man at the heart of one of F1’s biggest co𒀰ntroversies was there to witness what appeared to be a shambolic race ending in his first appearance back in the paddock since that fateful night in Abu Dhabi꧒.
A defence for the FIA
Not everyone disagreed 📖with the way the race was handled.&nbs𓃲p;
Despite the confusion, the rules were ultimately followed by race director Niels Wittich and th♍e FIA, a♒s Mercedes boss Toto Wolff pointed out.
“We looked it up - it ▨was the rulebook,” Wolff said. “It was a bit confusing but it was like it’s written down.
“Obviously, results like this are good for some teams and bad for others♓ but, if you throw a red flag and you have a crash with a lap to go…
“I just got a c𓂃all from Susie [Wolff, Toto’s wife]. She said that it was great entertainment in the 𝓰early morning on a Sunday.
“I don’t know w♊hether it was. We’re so in our little bubble here looking at laptimes!”
Although there was a risk Verstappen could have missed out on victory, Red Bull team principal Christian Horne🌺r said the final red flag was “the right thing to do”.
"When you're the leade💧r, you can only lose from that point,” he explained. “You can understand the rationale between wanting to finish under racinꦛg conditions rather than cruising behind the safety car for three laps.
"They might hav⛎e been able to clear the circuit and get it going, I don't know. Like all these things, there's always something to le🅺arn.”
Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle also defended the FIA.🌌
"I don't think there was any instruction to whizz this show up when required," Brundle said. "You have to walk a mile in the shoes of the peop꧙le who are responsible.
"It is easy for us to sit on the sidelines going 'should have done this, should have done thaღt’.
"Back in 2009, Feli💯pe Massa nearly died with ཧa piece of someone else's car coming through his cockpit.
"It is also a street circuit there with a lot of fans either side of the track and also marshals and medics that are d⛄own there. So, if there are pieces of debris on the track, you can't have them flying through the air at a couple hundred miles per hour.
"I thought when Alex Albon went off they could perhaps have just used𓄧 a Safety Car and swept the gravel up and cleared the car away.
"A red flag perhaps seemed slightly unnecessary but towards the en🍸d of the race, we had a tyre and wheel on the track and lots of debris.
"I am absoluteꩲly confident no one is in there going 'hey, let's make this a little bit more fun’.
"Whe🐻ther we are making crystal-clear decisions in the pressure of the moment, obviously we lost Charlie Whiting in Melbourne where he died sadly, then we went through the Michael Masi phase which everybody knows about, especially Abu Dhabi 2021.
"Then 🔴they shared the role, now we have a gu🌌y called Niels Wittich.
"Is he making the right decisio🧸ns? But at the end of the day, we are sitting here and we are not one percent responsible if somebody was kill🀅ed or injured."
What played out in Me♚lbourne will no doubt continue to be a point of discussion that rumbles on into the ne🌳xt race.
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for wuqian0821.com ar༒ound the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people🍎 who matter in the sport.
