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Safety car tweaks can dramatically improve F1 spectacle

FEATURE BY GUEST AUTHORS
29/02/2016

In Formula One, if something can be simple, it usually isn't.

It's not a stretch to imagine the above phrase dancing off the tongue of a particularly confused Murray Walker, trying to explain how Damon Hill went from fifth, to fourth, to seventh. While there's no YouTube evidence to support that the great Muzza ever said this, if he had, he would have been AB-SO-LUTELY right.

"And now, excuse me while I interrupt myself"

Today's commentators have it pretty easy. Since modern F1 races are entirely predictable, the presenters rarely make prophecies that immediately turn out to be wrong.

Barring an unlikely mechanical failure, the winner is often determined after the first corner of the first lap. Sure, there's a bit of wheel-banging in the midfield every now and again, but what fans really want is legitimate fights for the lead, throughout each stage of a Grand Prix.

To improve the show, F1 stakeholders continue to debate a variety of complex and expensive solutions. "Return to V8s," some say. "Run three-car teams," others maintain. Bernie Ecclestone suggested a number of strange fixes - from sprinklers, to shortcuts, to gold medals and beyond. Yet, F1's kingpins continue to overlook a simple solution that would guarantee excitement.

"The safety car has been deployed"

To a Formula One fan, there isn't a more exhilarating statement.

A safety car means instant action. The field bunches together. Teams scramble to make pit stops. The result, when the green flag waves, is pack racing at its finest.

The trouble is, with everlasting engines and asphalt run-offs, Bernd Maylander rarely has a reason to don his driving gloves these days. In 2015, the safety car was deployed just 14 times in 19 races. Eight events featured no safety car at all.

It's time for a steadfast rule that mandates a safety car every time marshals or recovery vehicles enter the circuit - like most forms of racing in the United States. To use NASCAR lingo, not only would this rule increase "Caution periods," and in doing so produce closer and more unpredictable racing, but it would also improve safety.

All too often, replays show daring course workers - like the "very brave Russian" who was nearly clouted by Sebastian Vettel in Sochi - darting onto the track to retrieve debris before the pack comes around. It's an unacceptable risk.

"Unless I am very much mistaken…"

The argument against increased safety car use is that it's too artificial. It robs the leaders of their well-earned advantage and is a blight on F1's sporting integrity.

But under the current regulations, confusion reigns whenever the safety car appears. Sometimes Charlie Whiting waits a lap or two before triggering the SC signal. Sometimes he activates the virtual safety car first, and then changes his mind and sends out a real-life Mercedes-Benz AMG GT-S after all. Meanwhile, team strategists take their best guess as to a course of action. Luck plays a major role in the outcome. It's a subjective call with little consistency.

Standardizing the rule would allow every team to prepare for inevitable SC periods when crafting their race strategies. Frontrunners may choose to save fuel and tires early in a race, instead of building large leads over the rest of the pack. Midfield teams may take high-risk/high-reward gambles, foregoing tire stops during late-race SC periods to jump to the front of the queue. The teams and drivers that react best to these situations would reap, and earn, the rewards.

"And it's go, go, go!"

To make the concept most effective, the restart procedure should be amended.

It's wrong to allow the leader to control the pace of the restart. It's simply too easy for the "absolutely unique lead car" to get the jump on "the one behind, which is identical." Instead, restarts should be handled like IndyCar (maybe the Americans are on to something here?), where the leader must maintain a set speed until the pack enters the start straight. Only when the green flag waves can the leader accelerate to racing speeds.

"There's nothing wrong with the car except that it's on fire"

Mandatory safety cars wouldn't solve all of F1's troubles, but would improve the show and reduce the likelihood of one driver racing away unchallenged. And, if there was more on-track action, more wheel-to-wheel battles for the lead, the din of the engines and the dominance of one team would no longer dictate the headlines.

It's a simple solution. It doesn't require a single change to the cars or necessitate that teams spend more money. It could be adopted tomorrow without much more than a small conversation in the pre-race drivers' briefing. In no time, commentators around the globe would echo Murray whenever the SC signal appeared: "Ding, dong! Are we going to see a race now!"

Brian Richardson{/urll}
brianrich1@outlook.com

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READERS COMMENTS

 

1. Posted by father guido, 16/04/2016 17:12

"There sure is allot that can be said about this. I would cease to make comparisons to any other form of motor sport. Because, there is no comparison. I think the strongest notes to this situation would be posted by Sir Frank Williams. Happy Birthday Frank. God Bless You. "

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2. Posted by koko, 05/04/2016 13:43

"Give points for pole-position and for fastest lap! They will make the drivers fight even more. The problem with F1 nowadays is they have to manage (read: preserve) the car a lot. They do not push because they have to keep the engine clear for X races. They do not push because the tyres needs to be OK. They know the season is long and they need a lot of resources until the end. If most of the points are shared between Mercedes drivers (and occasionally Ferrari), motivate the other drivers to earn some more ... like what if Manor/McLaren would earn a point for fastest lap?"

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3. Posted by Mugmug, 30/03/2016 11:20

"Brian, you must be someone who influences the current FIA rules/regulations and idiotic decisions that are currently "in vogue" in Formula 1. Your reasoning is why F1 is in crisis. Next you're going to tell us that Jean Todt is good for F1. "

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4. Posted by edllorca, 25/03/2016 13:55

"R-A-C-I-N-G. it is what all this is about. No more artificial rules. The current situation is hte culmination of too many rules, thus more rules will not fix it. Why is it so hard to remove the front wing and tire rules so that cars can follow and pass. "

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5. Posted by airman1, 14/03/2016 14:33

"A solution that is as dumb as a a bag of rocks! So what that the first guy ended up in the distance? All this gripe about close racing! F1 was never about close racing, it is about putting the best driver in the best car and win, every time if you can. Simple. Close racing is in mono-marques, the GP class, the lower series, where vehicles are as identical as they can be. Except the outward appearance.....there is close racing, and it is fun to watch, but this is not F1, dang Sir Jackie Stewart used to finish races with such an advantage that he could sip drinks in the paddock while waiting for others to arrive....yeah he was great, but he also drove a great car...and lemme tell ya, every champ, every last one of them, will tell you, in the bar, over a few drinks, that they like it that way, being dominant. Sure it is fun when you are young gun, but when you are fighting for the crown, you do not want too many damned pretenders about. So quit whining, there never was any close racing at the top in F1, save for a few notable exceptions, that are here to confirm the rule. Even if you kill the areo altogether, teams would still find a way to dominate, it is the name of the game...French entered the WWI in blue uniforms, all about Elan, and honor, it took just few first battles to realize that having OD green is way better....close racing indeed....get up front, stay there and win...and yes it is boring at times...."

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6. Posted by Uffen, 08/03/2016 14:08

"Pit stops are dangerous - perhaps the most dangerous point in an F1 race. Putting out more safety cars would only increase said danger. The safety car is supposed to be just that - for SAFETY. We also have yellow flags and huge, flashing yellow lights. If "the best drivers in the world" can't safely cope with that then the problem is much deeper than we think.
There is already too much safety car time in F1 now. I don't want it to become the "Spice" car. "

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7. Posted by Steve W, 05/03/2016 17:00

"All that's needed to spice up the show is have cheerleaders with twirling titties at every corner. Done."

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8. Posted by C5, 03/03/2016 18:24

"And how is that fair? The safety car rules in American racing is one of the key reasons I don't watch any of it...

Really, the constant tinkering with the rules is just so annoying. But if I was to suggest a change to the safety car usage, it would be to ban the use of it altogether, except for red-flag situations. A forced slow down (aka virtual safety car) is, to me, a great invention since it preserves the status quo and let's the fastest driver, who has the fastest and most reliable equipment and who makes the fewest mistakes, win. You know, like it is in a SPORT.

Yes, that does on occasion result in a predictable qualifying and a static race, but life is not all pink clouds, rainbows and gummy bears. If people want guarantee for show and glitter every single time, they should just buy a ticket to Vegas or a season pass to a circus.
"

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9. Posted by edllorca, 03/03/2016 14:56

"Sure lets remove more of the sporting element tehen 'spice up the show' with more artificial crap. If we wanted to see SC processions we can watch Indy Car (which we don't for said reason). If we want fake sports we can watch American Wrestling (which we don't).
How hard is it to understand we are RACE fans. Let the cars RACE, give them cars that can duel and pass, give them fuel, give them tires and let the fastest man win for all our sakes!"

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10. Posted by GrahamG, 02/03/2016 14:59

"Yet another reason to avoid having the fastest car and driver win the race. Presumably the aim is to have a series of demolition derbys rather than a boring, conventional race.
Why not dispense with racing as such and just choreograph the whole thing to an agreed finishing order with drives having a list of points at which they have to overtake and or push a rival off the circuit. A sort of WWF version of F1, that should keep everybody who watches racing for the crashes very happy and of course Bernie would then be able to get teams to bid to win races."

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11. Posted by Paul C, 01/03/2016 18:30

"Besides breaking up the long dull runs, the SC could do this:
-Keep course workers safer. Starting a SC period before recovery of track debris would give course marshals time to clear debris.
-It would stretch the fuel and allow a little more racing when the race is on. Hurrah!"

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12. Posted by Leo, 01/03/2016 17:41

"Mr. Richardson, seriously??

1. Laps spent behind the SC are much more boring than laps at full speed, even if there's no direct battle going on.

2. In field hockey a penalty corner improves the show, increases scoring opportunities etc. The result is that players aim more for the feet of their opponent than for the goal itself. Or think of the 'schwalbe' in soccer. If you know the SC is sent out for every minor occurance, how do you stop teams who could benefit from "aiming at the opponents feet", in a sort of legal Singapore '08 style?

I could list some more.

I think the SC should be used as little as possible."

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13. Posted by Motorsport-fan, 01/03/2016 9:54

"The answer Brian why a simple idea like this would never be implemented in Formula One is that any change would have to cost large amounts of money to implement and has to be confusing enough so the armchair F1 fan does not understand it! "

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14. Posted by gturner38, 29/02/2016 23:34

"One major issue with this is that unlike American racing, F1 cars share a pitbox with the team car. If you are going to have 3 or 4 safety car periods each race, then you have to expect most of the pitstops to take place during those periods and doing it with stacked pitstops is just going to push the second cars further back in the line. If we are worried that the battle between the two teammates in dominant cars isn't exciting enough, it will be a lot more dull if the second car gets pushed back to 5th twice each race."

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15. Posted by ryanhellyer, 29/02/2016 17:16

"F1 could learn a lot from American racing.

I think their pitlane setup is better in Nascar and Indycar too. They have a giant concrete barrier protecting everyone from the cars, and the mechanics hop over to service the cars. I don't understand why this isn't implemented in F1 too. It would add to the excitement, seeing mechanics diving over the wall. They could use less of them too, which would result in a lot more movement of the mechanics as they scampered around the car to tend to each item, instead of the current system of having each pitcrew member dedicated to a single task.

Oh, and making them refuel cars with those giant plastic bottles they use in Nascar would be cool too. It's more athletic, probably a lot safer and definitely cheaper than the big pump systems they used to have in F1.

As I write this, I keep thinking of more things ... so also ...

Tire warmers. They don't have those in Indycar, and it results in more excitement as the drivers have to get the tires up to temperature after a pitstop. In F1, they just take off with almost full grip straight out of the gate. BORING! Bring back cold tires :)"

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