FIA change safety car protocol after Abu Dhabi furore

A key phrase has been changed in the new sporting regulations to avoid a repeat

Ewan Gale

Tuesday 15 March 2022 20:31

The FIA has made revisions to its lapped-car procedures in the wake of the controversial ending to the 2021 F1 season.

Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the race, only after a contentious late safety car period where the only lapped cars allowed to gain their laps back were the five between the two rivals.

This meant that the Red Bull driver was given the opportunity to close up to the back of Hamilton, yet Carlos Sainz in third was blocked by backmarkers in a quest for a first race win of his career.

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Crucially, the time taken to unlap every backmarker behind the safety car may not have left enough time for the race to restart, which would have made Hamilton an eight-time world champion.

In the stormy aftermath of Verstappen's victory, Mercedes lodged two protests that were subsequently thrown out, although the race stewards acknowledged Article 48.12 of the sporting regulations "may not have been applied fully" in that instance.

The rules had stated: “If the clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message ‘lapped cars may now overtake’ has been sent to all competitors via the official messaging system, any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car.”

This was the keyword in the Silver Arrows' disbelief during the safety car period, with team principal Toto Wolff citing a lack of consistency when referring to a similar situation at the Eifel Grand Prix in 2020.

“How can it be that 14 months ago at the Eifel Grand Prix the explanation that was given was exactly the contrary to what has happened [in Abu Dhabi]?” said Wolff at the time.

“The explanation that was given that the reason why the safety car was out there so long is that all cars need to unlap themselves with the explanation that this is following the sporting regulations.

"Not only the decision has been taken in a totally opposite way but an explanation is being made 180-degree different to what happened 14 months ago.”

But as part of the governing body's reforms to address the issues that emerged in Abu Dhabi, in the 2022 sporting regulations, the equivalent article [55.13] sees the word “any” changed to “all”.

Then-race director Michael Masi was removed from the post ahead of the new season for his role in the controversy, with Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas fronting a new look race control room.