Red flag towards the end?

[Mark]

Back to the discussions we had in the wake of Abu Dhabi 21 ending under a Safety Car is never satisfactory.

Should the rule be put in that if the safety car is out when there's less than 5 laps to go then the race should be Red Flagged so it can finish under racing conditions?

 

[Starter4]

That's not a bad idea. Though I can see the #2 car in a team having a "mechanical issue" causing that red flag and closing the field up for their team mate.

 

[Mark]

That's not a bad idea. Though I can see the #2 car in a team having a "mechanical issue" causing that red flag and closing the field up for their team mate.

That's the thing isn't it. Whatever you come up with teams will find a way to game it.

 

[F1nKS]

Back to the discussions we had in the wake of Abu Dhabi 21 ending under a Safety Car is never satisfactory.

Should the rule be put in that if the safety car is out when there's less than 5 laps to go then the race should be Red Flagged so it can finish under racing conditions?

Instead of a red flag, call it an "orange flag" - same as a red flag, except nothing can be done to the cars during it.

 

[Bagwan]

I prefer the idea of leaving the backmarkers where they are .
It's a matter of chance when the safety car causing incident occurs , so why should it be any different with where the backmarkers are ? Making your way through lapped cars is already made easier at the restart at the race anyway as they are close together and receiving blue flags immediately , well informed about who and how many are going to go by .
That speeds up the process considerably .

 

[airshifter]

I'm not a big fan of anything that introduces artificial advantages at any point in the race myself. Having a VSC or full safety car can already do that to some extent, but it's better than stopping the race. The same for red flags, I'd prefer they don't allow car changes at all (unless a driver gets tire punctures from the accident) and if possible restart with the VSC gaps from where they were in order.

I really don't like races ending behind a safety car or VSC, but to me it's better than the alternative of mixing things up too much with a full red flag. And much like Bagwan I'd leave the backmarkers in place even when it is called. The gaps that existed as well as the backmarkers between the leading drivers were all hard earned by the drivers towards the front.

 

[Steve Boyd]

Here's a thought.
The cars use much less fuel behind the safety car than they do when racing. If they use half as much then for every 2 laps behind the safety car they'll have one extra racing lap of fuel. Why not give the race director the option of adding one racing lap for every two laps under caution to ensure that they can finish on a racing lap?

 

[Mark]

Here's a thought.
The cars use much less fuel behind the safety car than they do when racing. If they use half as much then for every 2 laps behind the safety car they'll have one extra racing lap of fuel. Why not give the race director the option of adding one racing lap for every two laps under caution to ensure that they can finish on a racing lap?

BTCC at least used to do something similar.

 

[gm99]

BTCC at least used to do something similar.

DTM and Formula E as well.

 

[Doc Austin]

Back to the discussions we had in the wake of Abu Dhabi 21 ending under a Safety Car is never satisfactory.

Never satisfactory, but sometimes there is no other choice.

Should the rule be put in that if the safety car is out when there's less than 5 laps to go then the race should be Red Flagged so it can finish under racing conditions?

There needs to be a defined number of laps left before you just let it run out. Five laps seems reasonable. It just has to be a hard rule written in plain language.

F1 had a race a few years back in Oz where they had to red flag the next to last lap. They restarted, did a single formation lap and then parked. Almost as anti-climactic as Spa 2001.