Formula 1 sometimes gives the impression of spiraling into itself. The reasons are mainly two: a sporting regulation that has grown in size over the years with the addition of rules and corollaries that have made the book of rules become a labyrinth in which even the men of the FIA themselves risk getting lost, and the growing will to offer the public a high-voltage show even on days when the action on the track doesn’t let you hold your breath.
An input, the latter, which also seems to have effects on race direction. Then there is a third variable, and it is that of the ‘Wittich management’, ie the race director who has replaced Michael Masi since the beginning of last year.
The Melbourne Grand Prix was a cocktail of these three elements. The first decision that came as a surprise on Sunday at Albert Park was to stop the race on lap eight, a red flag displayed to allow marshals to clean the track in the area where Alexander Albon had gone off the track.
Once the race was stopped, the heavy vehicles entered the track, but this aspect must not be misled. Was the use of vacuum cleaners to clean the track at turn 6 really essential or could we have proceeded under the safety car, leaving the track staff to sweep the gravel with less high-tech but still effective means?
When Kevin Magnussen crashed into the guards on lap 53, a similar situation arose. On this occasion, the debris from the Haas (including a tyre) was actually scattered over a long stretch of track and the second red flag went off, which appeared more understandable than the first but not entirely indispensable.
Max Verstappen crosses the finish line of the Australian GP followed by Lewis Hamilton
Photo by: Jake Grant / Motorsport Images
Now the question is whether the Wittich management has revised the role of the safety car. Imagining the service car proceeding at reduced speed with the single-seaters behind it does not seem to be a dangerous scenario for those who work on the track, and this has been seen for years without contraindications, especially on a dry track. However, if what we saw in Melbourne is a new course for the FIA, then we must prepare to see fewer safety cars on the track and many more starts.
For the race direction, the red flag is a tool to eliminate the risk of unforeseen events, there is no doubt, but the downside is that the sporting aspect takes a back seat. Not from the show, of course, because after every red flag there’s a restart, and that’s good news for anyone chasing high-voltage moments.
The fact remains that a safety car regime enforced at… Wittich does not prevent anything of what the track staff did today in Melbourne during the red flag periods.
Then there is a contradiction that emerged in the excited and chaotic final stages of the day. The red flag that eliminated the risks associated with a hypothetical cleaning of the track under the safety car was followed by the decision to restart the race with a standing start two laps from the end of the Grand Prix.
The marshals remove Alex Albon’s Williams FW45 after the red flag on lap 8: was it essential?
Photo by: Jake Grant / Motorsport Images
A start on a track like Albert Park with soft tires not up to temperature and only two laps scheduled is a call to chaos, as promptly happened at the first corner. Perhaps the drivers are assumed to be safe in their cars, or perhaps this is deemed a risk worth taking.
Then there is one last aspect that struck on Sunday in Melbourne. After the accident following the last start, there were conditions for declaring the race over, and the confirmation was the long period of time taken by the race direction to communicate what to do.
The last lap behind the safety car served to wave the checkered flag, to the detriment of Alpine and Sainz, who saw the weekend’s loot vanish in that round. In Carlos’ case, the penalty imposed was correct, but the context in which he had to serve it took the form of a real hoax.
Obviously everything was “according to the regulations”, mind you, Wittich’s work is always based on literal compliance with the rules, from the pilots’ underpants case, to Hamilton’s piercings up to the ban on celebrations by the staff of the teams when the drivers pass under the checkered flag.
Max Verstappen at the restart of the Australian Grand Prix
The rules are the guideline, but the common sense of those who apply them is also needed. You cannot manage Formula 1 with the sole objective of ‘zero risk’, because you end up distorting the nature of the sport. It takes mental flexibility and the ability to know how to evaluate case by case, whoever agrees to direct a Grand Prix is called to assume responsibility, vice versa it’s not for him. To say it is not an easy controversy, but the story of Charlie Whiting, who played that role for many years knowing how to distinguish when and how to intervene according to the cases that he was faced from time to time.
Formula 1 is now more than ever a fascinating sport, the 444,631 spectators who flocked to Albert Park are clear confirmation that there is a lot of good in the work done by Liberty Media and the FIA in the post-Covid period.
The risk, however, is that the very positive wave of this success leads one astray, that the hangover of acclaim (and financial returns) distances a little from reality. It’s okay to protect yourself, it’s okay to look ahead, to new markets and new generations, but acting in the name of the ‘vision’ and zero-risk is not an alibi that justifies everything.
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