Martin Brundle 'frustrated' by German Grand Prix start

German GP

Martin Brundle 'frustrated' by German GP start

Health and safety gone mad?

Martin Macdonald

Thursday 1 August 2019 09:15

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Martin Brundle has lamented the fact that the start of the German Grand Prix was delayed at the weekend due to a safety car taking the drivers out on the formation lap to clear the track of water.

Heavy rain had sprinkled the Hockenheimring in the morning before the race, and although it would eventually cause mayhem on the track with seven drivers forced into retirement, none of the racing could be described as being ‘unsafe’.

New regulations state that a race can still begin with a stationary start even after the safety car has led the formation lap, with previous rules stating it must begin with a moving start.

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Even though the desired standing start was gained, Brundle was left frustrated that the safety car was even out in the first place.

“It was rather frustrating to see the race start behind the Safety Car,” he wrote in his Sky Sports blog.

“The latest regulations allow for the cars to trundle round as the best way to disperse water before thankfully lining up and performing a normal start with a suitably reduced number of race laps.

“As always when you're not responsible for H&S, it's easy to say we should just have got on with it on a track not unduly covered with standing water. But as I often say, the throttle works both ways and some of the best drivers in the world can moderate speed to conditions.”

Brundle has praised the last three races, though, each of which has threw up superb entertainment, but in contrasting fashion.

“We've had three increasingly spectacular and enjoyable GPs on the bounce now, for differing reasons,” he wrote.

“Austria was all about the heat, Mercedes on their back foot, and the two young guns of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen duking it out for victory.

“Silverstone featured many high-speed battles and clashes with home hero Lewis Hamilton taking the glory.

“Germany was all about the rain and race-defining incidents lap after lap, even corner after corner occasionally.”