Purists will say they failed to recognize Formula One during a particularly tumultuous Australian Grand Prix on Sunday. But it seems they are not at the end of their sentence.
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The leaders of motorsport’s premier class have never hidden their intentions to revitalize a discipline that has taken too long to put on a show. With the main aim of creating entertainment designed to attract a new clientele.
They achieved this after a simply chaotic event marked by three stoppages (red flags) and four starts, three of which were stopped.
This third event of the 2023 season, unsurprisingly won by Max Verstappen (Red Bull), was full of twists and turns as it knew how to keep all the brave people awake who watched it live at night.
Tragedy averted
The question now is whether all those red flags were really justified. In the not too distant past, the safety car would have been deployed to extricate damaged single-seaters or clear debris from the track, but without resorting to a red flag forcing single-seaters to return to the pits.
But since the American company Liberty Media took over F1, everything has changed. And not necessarily for the better.
In any case, the approach has paid off in Australia. We had three standing starts, which remains the highlight in F1.
But this situation is not without risk. In Melbourne, the third restart sparked heated debates with two laps to go, resulting in the retirement of a number of drivers including Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon.
Luckily, the two Alpine team-mates escaped unharmed after their accident, but it could have been worse.
Four overtaking zones and… four exits
In Australia there were as many overtaking zones (DRS) as there were downhill sections. Unheard of in F1.
According to several credible sources, only four races in the discipline’s history have produced three or more starts, namely Austria (1987), Belgium (1990), Tuscany (2020) and Saudi Arabia (2021).
Many pilots criticized this decision to show red flags. One of the first to protest was Georges Russell, the victim of a hasty suspension after an engine failure in his Mercedes.
“I think the first red flag wasn’t necessary at all. A lot of gravel has accumulated on the route [après la sortie de piste du Thaïlandais Alex Albon], true, but the running line was clear. We’ve seen a lot worse in the past,” said the Brit, President of the F1 Drivers Association.
Two weeks earlier in Saudi Arabia, a similar decision had been made by commissioners after Montreal’s Lance Stroll was abandoned, Russell recalled.
“Stroll’s car was not stopped on the route,” he said. She didn’t bother. I don’t know what’s going on in the minds of race officials to make such gestures. We have to work together to make things better.”
adds Verstappen
We have the impression that the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and F1 are no longer on the same wavelength in their decisions.
Verstappen wasn’t nice either: “Using the safety car would have been enough,” he said. All these stopped starts create chaos.”
But hey, how to interpret such comments from a rider who used a similar decision to win his maiden world title in Abu Dhabi in 2021?
Back in a month
The cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix, which is scheduled for April 16 and will not be replaced on the calendar, means that the next stop in Azerbaijan will not take place for another month.
Time for F1 to review its programming for a competitive weekend. There are whispers that a new format is being developed to once again encourage a better show on the track.
The first of six sprint races (doubled last year) will be held in Baku. With the difference that we want to reduce the weekend to a single free practice session, which will be presented on Friday morning.
In the future, qualifying would take place on Friday to set the starting grid for Sunday’s feature race. The Saturday schedule would include a qualifying session for the sprint race, which would take place in the afternoon of the same day.
The idea is very simple: increase interest rates to obviously generate more money.
Like in Montreal in 1995
Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix reminded us of a bad memory we had in Montreal almost 30 years ago.
While the race was not over, spectators flocked to the track, prompting some drivers to immobilize their singles after the finish line without being able to complete their lap of honour.
In 1995, thousands of fans had managed to get through security to celebrate Jean Alesi’s (Ferrari) only Formula 1 victory on track before all the cars had completed their course at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.
It was said at the time that this situation would never happen again in F1…