Anderson: F1 has gone too far, following NASCAR

The Australian Grand Prix was another race that sparked discussions about how the FIA ​​is applying the rules and what needs to be done to make safety car and red flag situations less controversial. Gary Anderson, former race car designer and now The Race reviewer, also shared his thoughts on these issues.

Nobody seems to have a clear idea of ​​how to act in certain situations – this applies to teams, drivers and maybe even the FIA. These ambiguities give the impression that the rules are applied unfairly and need to be completely overhauled.

You have to start with qualifications. Although there were no particular difficulties in Australia this year, the same problem is repeated and will be repeated. How many times has it happened that red flags are raised and all riders who are currently doing a fast lap through no fault of their own are the losers. Sometimes this gives someone an advantage, but at any time there is a possibility that you will be out of luck – so something must be done to reduce the chance of such situations.

During qualifying, the driver must use a specific set of tires as efficiently as possible. But if red flags appear during the session, you just have to limit their effect to the area from the start-finish line to the place where the accident occurred. For example, if someone crashes a car in Turn 6 of Albert Park, as in the Australian Grand Prix with Alex Albon, and you’ve already passed that point, you should be able to finish the lap.

This will not only be a fair measure that will reduce the number of unlucky drivers, but will also eliminate the possibility that a rider who realizes he will not be able to improve the result will not block the track. A similar story happened in Monaco in 2006, and then Michael Schumacher became his hero, but last year at the same track Sergio Perez attracted the same suspicion, mainly from Max Verstappen’s camp.

In qualifying it is also possible to use the virtual safety car mode, with which you can assess the seriousness of what happened or take measures to quickly get the track back in order. In some situations this can be done quickly enough and then the riders can at least keep the temperature of the brakes and tires at a normal level.

When red flags pop up during races, they cause a lot of trouble. As you saw in Australia, when the safety car came on track due to Albon’s accident, George Russell and Carlos Sainz took first and fourth respectively. It was definitely the right decision at the time, but soon the red flags were suddenly blown out, greatly complicating the situation for the riders and their teams.

Russell then rolled back to seventh position, Sainz – to 11th, while their rivals had the chance to make “free” pit stops under red flags. Since there is no consistency in the actions of the FIA, the teams are deprived of the opportunity to make the right decisions. The strategists of Mercedes and Ferrari acted correctly in calling the drivers to the pits, but in the end it turned out to be tactical losses.

Since it is allowed to change tires during race suspension periods with red flags, this gives many a chance to correct mistakes. At the same time, it is quite logical that the rubber can be replaced – this is done for safety reasons, as there is a possibility that the rubber has been punctured or damaged by debris on the track.

But the solution could be this: when the race is stopped by red flags, the driver must fit tires with the same compound as before. This does not save the pit stop for those using red flags to comply with the rule requiring the use of rubber of both compounds. That. for this you have to make another pit stop.

Teams don’t always have extra sets of tyres, but it’s just a matter of more rational planning, and everything can be foreseen over the weekend – I have no doubt this is a very real scenario.

Now let’s see what can be done in case of the introduction of a virtual safety car (VSC) mode or the appearance of a real safety car.

When VSC is introduced it seems to me it should stay until all cars have passed the entry line to the pit lane. Then those who were in the right place on the track at the right time will not be able to gain an advantage …

The safety car is not allowed onto the track until all cars have completed the lap in VSC mode. Then the chance that the driver of the safety car can immediately lead the peloton rises to 99.9%.

Formula 1 must be very careful and distinguish between when existing rules are applied for safety or sporting reasons and situations where this is done purely for the sake of show. Modern F1 has already gone too far, following NASCAR. However, we need rules that clearly indicate who takes what position.

Restarting from a place is one of the most difficult situations for riders. You have no control over the actions of those around you, while there are always loads of riders desperately trying to regain as many positions as possible on the restart. Plus, it’s getting harder to get the tires and brakes up to the right temperature, so we’ve got a recipe for almost guaranteed accidents.

There should only be one start from the spot – at the very beginning of the race, after which you have to use VSC mode or restart behind the safety car. In any case, no one will lose ground…

It is also necessary to specify more clearly the circumstances that cause red flags, because it is quite possible to argue that in such an accident, which Kevin Magnussen had in Australia, it was quite possible to get by with a safety car.

I may remember there have been times in my career when I have taken advantage of situations like this. But let’s take the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix as an example, when our Jordan team called Giancarlo Fisichella into the pits to refuel during the safety car period, realizing that he could cover 75% of the distance, after which the race would have stopped with red flags, and the restart would probably be no more.

Yes, we were lucky then, the race was stopped at the right time for us, but we knew exactly what rules would apply and how it would affect the course of events.

This is all I ask. If F1 wants to make racing more spectacular, there are other ways to do it. But whatever the possible scenario, everything should be spelled out in the rules so that everyone knows exactly what is going to happen and how.