New Safety car rule for the 2007 season?

[Rob W]

No car will be allowed to enter the pits during a safety car period until all cars are in the group following the safety car. This prevents drivers from racing to the pits immediately after a safety car is deployed. In addition, any lapped cars in front of a car on the lead lap will be required to pass the safety car and restart at the end of the line-up instead of maintaining their physical position.

Seems slightly weird to anyone? It might sound fair but would seem to benefit teams who last season showed a bit of incompetence in times of safety car deployment. This is going to take the fun out of safety car pit-rushes..

Rob W

[Tom]

Seems very NASCAR to me, seems a pointless and compicated rule to me. It can't really be classed as an unfair advantage, it won't increase competitive overtaking on the track and its clearly not a safety issue. So why?

[Keir]

Seems very similar to the IRL/Champ Car ruling.
The pit lane is closed until the Safety Car has picked up the leader. Any cars between the Safety Car and the leader are waved past to the back of the pack.
A green plus board is then shown allowing cars on the lead lap to pit. A lap later cars a lap down or more are allowed to pit.

This can help cars that are almost a lap down make up ground.

[zac510]

Surely you could still pit if there has an accident you are sure that there will be a SC for, but the marhalls have not yet deployed the safety car officially.

There might be a 1/3-1/2 lap window there, 20-30 seconds?

This seems to work against the FIA's wishes to 'equalise' it by favouring cars in certain positions on the track. They will gain enormously while the others will lose enormously.

[manchild]

No car will be allowed to enter the pits during a safety car period until all cars are in the group following the safety car.

I see so many potential problems especially having in mind sanctions for ignoring one of the orders/rules that come in conflict.

For example - a car is black flagged or got black flag with orange circle one lap before SC went out... Another example - driver and team read out technical malfunction on car that makes further running without inspection/repair dangerous.

[Keir]

No car will be allowed to enter the pits during a safety car period until all cars are in the group following the safety car.

I see so many potential problems especially having in mind sanctions for ignoring one of the orders/rules that come in conflict.

For example - a car is black flagged or got black flag with orange circle one lap before SC went out... Another example - driver and team read out technical malfunction on car that makes further running without inspection/repair dangerous.

I would suggest that the FIA would not take a draconian approach to the examples listed above. That is why there is a communication tool between the teams and Charlie Whiting. The teams can talk to the FIA instantly from the pit wall and get these actions approved.

[bhall]

This can help cars that are almost a lap down make up ground.

As well as getting slower cars out of the way of the leaders.

[Keir]

This can help cars that are almost a lap down make up ground.

As well as getting slower cars out of the way of the leaders.

To be fair I thought the safety car picked up the leader in this way anyway and the rule hasn't changed.

[SoftBatch]

This is really going to screw the second car for the teams.

Before SC

Massa, Kimi 1-2 respectively

After SC

Massa 1st

Kimi 11th

[Deano_266]

this is just gunner confuse people that just watch f1 because there so used to them being to be able to pit during SC but also this wont help the racce become more interesting because last year i remember cars queing during SC just for their pits and thats a real thriller part of a race under SC conditions

[mini696]

Its a better rule than they have had before.

The competive overtaking might be increased because the leader no longer gets an advantage of being the only car to have all lapped cars removed from in front of it. Now everyone on the lead lap gets a chance at the car in front of them, rather than having 10 lapped cars between them and the leader.

Its better for safety, thats a no-brainer. How silly is it to allow the cars to race back to the pits when there is an incident on the track worthy of a SC. So now everyone must maintain position until the SC picks them up and lets them through.

[Rob W]

Imagine if you're in 2nd place and your scheduled pit was the next lap.. the safety car is suddenly deployed and you have to go around behind it until all the other cars are 'in line'.. which could take easily more than a lap once lower order cars are waved through to rejoin at the back.

And then you run out of fuel before you make it to the pits.

I think this takes away a major strategy part of races where the safety car is involved. Last season this rule would have helped one driver in particular who was hampered by his team's strategy error when a safety car was deployed. Rules shouldn't be there to help teams who make strategy errors should they? This rules seems to only change this aspect.

Rob W

[Ray]

I completely agree with you Rob. But( ), of all the restarts I've seen, the race is destroyed by lapped cars. They get in the way, they cause accidents, and they take away from the race at the front. I welcome the rule.