Former F1 race director Michael Masi did not apply two articles of sporting regulations related to the resumption of racing after the safety car at the Abu Dhabi GP.
Only a few cars were allowed to make up their lost lap, instead of giving all cars in the same situation a chance. The race was restarted at the end of the same lap that the drivers between Hamilton and Verstappen were ordered to split.
Those decisions led to a last-lap heads-up match that ended up deciding the drivers’ title in favor of Max Verstappen after he overtook Lewis Hamilton, prompting formal complaints and protests from Mercedes.
This was rejected before the FIA announced that it would carry out a full investigation into what happened, which led to Masi’s departure from his post and a restructuring of the FIA’s operations in Formula 1 which was announced earlier this week. week.
Ahead of the new season in Bahrain next month, the updated sporting regulations for 2022 have also introduced a number of changes to one of the articles governing restarts after a safety car period.
The modification focuses on calling the safety car back to the pits at the end of the next lap, speeding up the process that allows the race to resume.
Under last year’s sporting regulations, this was “when the last lagging car passed the lead” after they had been given the order to split.
However, under the amended regulations, this will happen “once the ‘lagging cars can now unfold’ message has been sent to all drivers via the official messaging system”.
In order for this message to be issued, the race management must verify that the track has been previously declared safe by the person in charge of the circuit.
While the change doesn’t directly address the items that Masi didn’t apply, in theory it should help speed up restarts after a safety car, saving as much time as it would take for the last lagging car to pass the lead before it’s reported that the safety car will return to the pits.
Masi stated after the Mercedes protest in Abu Dhabi that “all the teams had agreed for a long time that, whenever possible, it was desirable that the race finish with the ‘green’ flag”, reasoning his decision not to follow the rule of wait until the end of the next round.
Announcing the planned changes for 2022 earlier this week, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said “the procedures for stragglers behind the safety car will be re-evaluated by the F1 Sporting Advisory Committee and presented to the F1 Commission before the start of the season”, something that does not rule out new modifications.
