After yesterday’s training in Abu Dhabi, Daniel Ricciardo expressed the desire to adjust the rules regarding red flags: the Australian AlphaTauri driver believes that if training was interrupted for some reason for a long time, the session time should be extended.
On Friday, the second practice session at the Yas Marina Circuit was stopped twice: the first time due to a serious accident involving Carlos Sainz, who heavily crashed his Ferrari, the second time after Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas spun, when the German driver’s car also spun the barriers and stopped on the track at the 1st exit.
Two periods where the session was interrupted by red flags effectively reduced track time from 60 minutes to 26 minutes. In addition, this was the only practice for ten drivers, because in the first session of free practice their cars, in accordance with championship rules, were driven by young drivers.
Because the Abu Dhabi stage has a special schedule, with both qualifying and the Grand Prix starting in the evening, when dusk is already falling, the second practice session is the only session in which the drivers have the opportunity to take part in such to adapt circumstances.
According to Ricciardo, the FIA should take this into account in situations like yesterday, when the evening training was accompanied by special circumstances. When asked if he thought the session time should be extended in such cases, Daniel replied: “Yes, although the current rules have been like this for a long time, it would be better to stop the clock.
I worked the first session, but many riders missed it, ultimately not being able to complete more than five laps in the second practice. Maybe it would be more appropriate to extend the session time a little, and maybe we can discuss this during the pilot briefing, and also figure out what other rules need to be changed.”
Speaking about Sainz’s accident, Daniel gave his version of what happened: “It looks like Ferrari probably set the car at too low a ground clearance. From the outside, this accident was reminiscent of what happened to Lando Norris in the previous race, and I would call it strange because we have to drive the second and third corners of the Abu Dhabi circuit with our eyes closed.
These are fast corners, but at full throttle they are easy to take, which is why I find the incident strange. I remember my accident last year in Monaco during some turns in the pool area. The special thing about these cars is that the ground clearance at the rear must be very low to achieve the required downforce, but this makes their behavior on the track dangerous at certain times.
It is clear that the risk increases at high speeds, when the car is fully loaded, and then such accidents can occur, which are obviously unpleasant to watch. In such situations, the driver cannot do anything or react in any way. You saw Carlos take a turn, and then suddenly he turned into a passenger. I’m glad he’s not hurt.
“I don’t want to go into further detail about the warning signs, but we may have a few things to discuss during the pilot briefing.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
