Re: 2021 Discussion Thread
Posted: 15 Dec 2021, 15:06
Actually you raise a good point
I think many of us who are pre-Netflix (let's put it that way) are too used to Safety Cars being a fact of life in Formula 1. And don't see their overuse as something negative or positive. We saw Vettel win a championship under SC conditions.
Many people tuning into Channel 4 for the first time to see a title showdown for the ages will likely be surprised at how a backmarker's accident can either turn the race into a procession, or impact the frontrunner's race especially so severely. Many objective viewers who aren't used to motorsport may wonder how a sport that sells itself as being competitive can allow for such a total reset. We saw (poor) analogies with football, as if someone was 9-0 up and the ref had declared a penalty shootout.
The solution though is not Masi's, which is to chop and change in order to favour an exciting end of Safety Car conditions. Really what takagi was saying as a scenario, where Masi green flags the race for the last lap but with the back-markers in between Lewis and Max, is actually the most logical solution the dilemna under the current rules. This is because Hamilton earned the right to have those 4 cars between him and Max at a safety car restart through sheer pace, and the rules seem to allow the Race Director to evaluate that it would take too long for everyone to unlap and give a green flag despite protocol dictating otherwise.
More generally though, I do think what this race should do is act as a catalyst for re-introducing the ban on pitting during the SC period, or some form of mechanism that reduces the advantage of the SC for everyone but the front runner.
I think many of us who are pre-Netflix (let's put it that way) are too used to Safety Cars being a fact of life in Formula 1. And don't see their overuse as something negative or positive. We saw Vettel win a championship under SC conditions.
Many people tuning into Channel 4 for the first time to see a title showdown for the ages will likely be surprised at how a backmarker's accident can either turn the race into a procession, or impact the frontrunner's race especially so severely. Many objective viewers who aren't used to motorsport may wonder how a sport that sells itself as being competitive can allow for such a total reset. We saw (poor) analogies with football, as if someone was 9-0 up and the ref had declared a penalty shootout.
The solution though is not Masi's, which is to chop and change in order to favour an exciting end of Safety Car conditions. Really what takagi was saying as a scenario, where Masi green flags the race for the last lap but with the back-markers in between Lewis and Max, is actually the most logical solution the dilemna under the current rules. This is because Hamilton earned the right to have those 4 cars between him and Max at a safety car restart through sheer pace, and the rules seem to allow the Race Director to evaluate that it would take too long for everyone to unlap and give a green flag despite protocol dictating otherwise.
More generally though, I do think what this race should do is act as a catalyst for re-introducing the ban on pitting during the SC period, or some form of mechanism that reduces the advantage of the SC for everyone but the front runner.