Quote:
Originally Posted by powderjunkie
The challenge is that usually when a red flag is thrown all of the drivers have driven through a bunch of debris at least once.
There's no great answer. I do wonder if there should be a 1 lap countback for these red flag restarts...it's probably another damned if you do/don't, but it sucks to get screwed for pitting under a preceding SC/VSC. There is some logic in it as it works that way for a lap 1 restart, though I don't think we've had many of those since the early 2000s.
I still think field spread should be a key factor when deciding SC vs Red Flag. Early in the race the field is bunched very quickly with no unlapping necessary. It's more like cleaning up in 2 minute spurts, as SC laps tend to be like 50% longer. It seemed like they announced the 10 minutes to 1st restart pretty much immediately, so that cleanup was gonna be pretty darn fast either way.
Later on in the race the field tends to be way more spread with some lapped cars, so it take several laps/minutes to create a safe work environment, at which point it would simply be faster to do a red flag.
Great point on the dirty racing line. Drivers also have way less to lose at that point, so everyone from 4th-15th is super aggressive.
I think the silliest thing was the final formation lap restart. The countback implies that the events of the uncompleted sector don't count...except some of them do. It's another damned if do/don't situation, but there is nothing wrong with ending the race early when there will be no chance for any more competitive running.
A bit of a full circle thing - Alonso's 2nd career podium was in Brazil 2003, where Webber had a massive crash, and then Alonso had an even bigger one by running into the debris zone too fast, leading to a red flag and no restart...Controversy whether Fisi or Raikkonen won, but Alonso ended up keeping his 3rd despite crashing out and causing the end of the race.
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I just feel that a Red Flag stops the race as it was just prior to incident. So if you have a big enough issue to stop the race, then the pit work should stop as well. I would propose that no work be allowed unless there is a CLEAR safety issue...so I agree, kind of, with being able to work on a car to make sure it can run safely. Ex. show a drop in tire pressure, spike in cooling, part hanging on etc, and only be able to replace like for like (can't go hard to soft etc.). If you're on old rubber, tough break, but you can't change till the race resumes under SC/VSC/FCY.
It would improve the racing, but having a bit more uncertainty...aka safe chaos. I also FAR prefer a red flag in the last 10-15 laps to at least try and get a race to finish under green. Or at least give it 1 shot...because your points on aggressiveness does bring up issues.
One thing not mentioned, and likely a big reason why teams may not like, red flag to a green finish scenario is implications under the cost cap. Drivers being too risky could cost the team ALOT of $$...see. Sainz/Alpine.