'Restart zone' offered as solution to avoid repeat of Mugello chaos

Formula 1

'Restart zone' offered as solution to avoid repeat of Mugello chaos

Sporting Working Group set to discuss different ideas

Ian Parkes

Wednesday 23 September 2020 13:04

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Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has suggested Formula 1 incorporate "a restart zone" to ensure there is no repeat of the mayhem that unfolded in the recent Tuscan Grand Prix.

The debut race at Mugello was marred by a four-car pile-up at the safety car restart, with 12 drivers warned for what the stewards deemed was "inconsistent application of throttle and brake".

One of the primary causes of the incident was the positioning of the restart line along the start-finish straight, with pacesetter Valtteri Bottas deliberately driving slowly up to that point to ensure he avoided a tow from behind, while those in the middle and at the rear of the pack had already started racing.

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Assessing the incident now after several days of reflection, Steiner feels a fix is required which will almost certainly be raised during a future meeting of the Sporting Working Group.

"The restart line was far down the straight at Mugello, and some people obviously took a chance and tried to have a run at it," said Steiner. "I don’t think anybody did anything wrong, I fully agree with that one, it was just circumstances.

"Going forward, to avoid these things, I think we need to look at where to put the restart line and maybe also think about a restart zone.

"I’m not an expert in these things, but other series do it like that to avoid these things from happening. I think it’s worthwhile to look into it, but I’m sure it’ll come up on the agenda of the Sporting Working Group.”

A restart zone is currently used in NASCAR where the leader driver must accelerate between two designated lines.

Haas driver Romain Grosjean has offered a different solution. He said: "Maybe, possibly, thinking of restarting the race at the safety car line, which is much earlier on the straight line and therefore we’re not having the risk of having the whole straight slower."

Team-mate Kevin Magnussen, meanwhile, has suggested "a change to the restart procedure otherwise I think it will happen again".

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