Ricciardo calls for common sense and more flexibility

After the race’s finish in Sao Paulo, Daniel Ricciardo criticized the rule, which saw him and Oscar Piastri lose an entire lap to the leader, complaining that it completely robbed him of inspiration and fighting spirit at the restart.

His AlphaTauri and Piastri’s McLaren suffered quite serious damage due to the consequences of the accident that occurred at the start, although they had nothing to do with this incident, but only became accidental victims of it.

After the first lap of the race, the peloton returned to the pit lane, with the asphalt of Turn 1 littered with debris. Ricciardo and Piastri’s cars were rolled into the pits and it appeared that both had retired from the race. But the safety car period announced on the first lap soon gave way to red flags, this happened already on the second lap and for quite a long time, while the race was stopped, the mechanics of both teams managed to repair the cars .

But it also meant that Daniel and Oscar were behind the leader when the peloton, having returned to the pit lane behind the safety car and lined up there, crossed the start-finish line for the second time.

But the race was stopped and AlphaTauri mechanics managed to replace the rear wing of Ricciardo’s car. The Australian thought he could return on the same lap as everyone else, but it turned out he would only have to restart after missing a full lap.

“We were ready to return to the race when Oscar and I were told we would be starting a lap later,” The Race quoted a disgruntled Daniel as commenting. “This completely killed all inspiration related to the upcoming continuation of the race. I don’t know why we started and missed a lap, and it’s very frustrating. There’s something wrong with the rules.”

However, both drivers found themselves in this situation due to a combination of different rules.

The order in which the cars line up before the restart is determined “by the last point at which it was possible to determine the position of all the cars”, and at the end of the second lap, which was run under red flags, the cars were of Ricciardo and Piastri were in the pits of their team. Therefore, both lost the circle.

If the cars are not on the track when the race is suspended, they are subject to a different rule: they may leave the pit lane when the race resumes, but must return to the pit lane when the safety car returns there, and may only participate in the race after the last car has left the pit lane exit after the restart.”

In other words, if your car is in the pits during red flags, and not lining up along the pit lane with everyone else, then the attitude towards you is different. If Ricciardo and Piastri had lost a lap but were at the end of the line instead of in the pits, they could have rejoined the leader.

A similar rule applies when the peloton behind the safety car is driving around the track, and cars that are one lap behind are allowed to overtake the safety car and then attempt to overtake for the remainder of the race.

For example, during the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the car of Nikita Mazepin, then driving for Haas, was rolled from the back of the line in the pit lane to the very start, while the race was suspended shortly before the race. end up with red flags. He then continued driving himself, completed a lap and, upon returning to the pit lane, stopped at the end of the line, but was already on the same lap as the leader. And only then did the peloton move to the starting field, after which a standing start was given.

It turns out that the only way Ricciardo and Piastri could start with everyone else was this: at the end of the first lap they did not have to return to the pits, but move along in the peloton. But then their teams had to repair cars in the pit lane, instead of in garages.

In theory this would be possible, as it was clear that the chance of red flags was high and both drivers could complete another lap behind the safety car, albeit with damaged cars. But this comes with the risk of being fined because the cars were in an unsafe condition.

It must be admitted that both cars were quite seriously damaged and could only be properly repaired in a garage. But Ricciardo and Piastri were unlucky that the red flags did not appear immediately.

If the pack returned to the pit lane immediately after the first lap and both cars were rolled to garages for repairs, they would still have to start from the pit lane, but in this case they would not lose a lap.

Ricciardo even proposed yesterday to adjust the rules that apply in such situations: “My argument is this: if fifteen cars had problems today, all fifteen would start from the pit lane in a circle behind the leader, and there would be only five cars are allowed inside. the starting field? No.

No one would do that, so I think we have to use common sense and be more flexible. It’s frustrating that our day was ruined from the start.”