The controversial safety car phase at the Italian Grand Prix reopened the wounds suffered by many fans in Abu Dhabi last year. The Monza race ended behind the safety car as the FIA strictly followed procedures laid down in the rules – something that was not the case at last year’s season finale.
While the World Automobile Federation will analyze what happened to see if there were things that could have been done better to at least allow for a one-lap shootout restart at the end of the race, there is no doubt that followed the rules exactly.
The safety car rules of Formula 1 form a whole segment – Article 55 – of the sporting regulations of Formula 1. It specifies how and when the safety car is used and what procedures the participants and the safety car driver follow must comply.
Why the safety car pulled out in front of George Russell
After the race there was much reporting of the safety car catching the wrong car – ahead of third-placed George Russell and not leader Max Verstappen. Interestingly, however, the rules do not dictate that the safety car only leaves the pits to take the leader.
Instead, Article 55.6 states: “The safety car will drive onto the track with its orange lights regardless of where the leader is.” So there’s nothing wrong with initially driving ahead of Russell, who used the safety car period on lap 48 to pit.
Normally, the lights at the front of the safety car turn from orange to green to signal that any car ahead of the leader can overtake. This pushes the leading car to the front of the field, with everyone else eventually queuing up behind.
Why the rescue operation took so long
In Monza, this process was significantly delayed, which is probably due to the complications that the marshals had when recovering Ricciardo’s car. The McLaren was stuck in one aisle and could not be pushed into the next gap by the marshals.
This meant using a crane that was on the opposite side of the track to cross the track. The best way to safely accomplish this was to create a large enough gap in traffic to give the crane adequate time to cross – so attempting to hold the train of cars back had to be made to create this buffer.
During the delay, Russell asked if he could pass the safety car, but the orange lights were still on, meaning he was not allowed to overtake. The safety car continued to slow down Russell and Verstappen was also out of the queue by the end of lap 50.
It wasn’t until lap 51, as the line of cars approached the Ascari chicane, that the safety car light finally turned green, allowing Russell and the cars between him and Verstappen.
What went wrong in Abu Dhabi 2021
But that was only the first sequence of what must happen before a restart. As soon as the leader has formed up behind the safety car, the race director has the opportunity to let the lapped vehicles overtake.
In Abu Dhabi, it was the selective selection of a few lapped cars that caused the controversy, as it put Verstappen behind him with a buffer on the third-placed car, albeit just behind Hamilton himself.
The FIA justified its decision that day by saying that the rules had previously only referred to “any” and not to “all” lapped cars. The regulations have now been rewritten so that all lapped cars must pass.
No more time for Monza restart because of lapped cars
When the leader Verstappen finally led the line at the Ascari exit on Lap 51, the time had indeed run out thanks to the key rule that had been ignored in Abu Dhabi to allow the restart.
As soon as the message is displayed that cars that have been lapped can overtake, according to the regulations at least one more lap must elapse before the restart.
Article 55.13 states: “Once the message “LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE” has been sent to all competitors via the official messaging system, the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap.”
Race Director’s “Superior Authority” not used
The race director therefore had less than a minute to decide whether or not to let the lapped cars through, or the race was over. They decided to wait. The requirement for a “following lap” meant that clearance could not be given on lap 52 as there could not be a restart before the end of lap 53, the checkered flag.
At Abu Dhabi, the FIA ignored the “next lap” rule and resumed racing at the end of the same lap where the lapped cars were released. She justified this by saying that the regulations give the race director complete freedom in choosing the rules to be followed.
This was based on Article 15.3, which states that the race official has “overriding authority” over a number of matters, including the safety car.
The FIA stuck to the letter of the law at Monza, meaning there was no way the race could restart once Verstappen was finally at the front of the field. And the ‘next lap’ rule added to the frustration as it meant two more laps behind the safety car before the checkered flag was flown.
Binotto sure: boos were against FIA and not Verstappen
At that moment, the fans began to boo, although it was clear to Ferrari that their anger was directed at the FIA and not at Max Verstappen himself: “I think that the boos from our Tifosi were more for the FIA,” says Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto .
“By booing the first car and the winner, they were trying to boo the FIA. The reason is that the tifosi and the people out there think the safety car could have pitted sooner.”
Seven-time Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton couldn’t help but emphasize the contrast between Sunday’s events and last year’s Formula One title fight on the last lap in Abu Dhabi.
“It always brings back memories. Those are the rules of how to read them,” he says. “There was only one time in the history of the sport that they didn’t make the rules the way they do today and that was the one time they changed the outcome of the championship. But it is what it is.”