its interruption Michael Massey in front of the team race direction of Formula 1 It was received as a joy by a section of fans and teams who saw in the Australian the culprit of all the mistakes made since 2019 and, especially, the 2021 season. However, time has finally confirmed what was obvious: the problem of FIA and F1 it wasn’t Masi but the structure. Proof of this was his result Italian Grand Prix 2022.

An event where many things happened, not only in Formula 1 and not only on Sunday, but from the practice classes to Saturday’s qualifying. All this to end with a climax that illuminated the tifosi of Ferrari because the The Italian Grand Prix was completed under safety car inexplicably.

Below are the reasons and mistakes made by Race Direction at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix.

The controversy: what happened at the end of the 2022 Italian GP race?

On lap 47 of 53, Daniel Ricciardo had to stop his McLaren due to a technical failure, with such bad luck that he did so in the worst area to take it off the entire track. In the middle of sector 2 at the bends of Lesmos, right on the inside peak, the Australian parked his car. In this area, the cranes and the Marshals station are at the other end, i.e. outside, since it is common for accidents to happen that end up with the competitors at the dam.

Race direction lasts 50 seconds from the time the yellow flag is announced until it is indicated that there is safety car. This in F1 is a world because apart from this section on the rest of the track you can maintain the speed of the competition. At the same time the teams call their drivers to change wheels bearing in mind that the race will start again.

That Race Direction took almost an entire lap to make a decision that should have been instantaneous (Virtual Safety Car or the conventional one) is blatantly wrong because it rigs the competition and puts drivers and marshals at risk.

What’s worse is that the drama didn’t end there.

As a rule the safety car he must always start ahead of the race leader and from there set up a platoon and slow the team down. In Italy he equaled George Russell (4th) as a result of the late call from Management. That’s what he did until Verstappen reached the safety car two laps later, that is, six minutes.

At this point, with 4 rounds to go, the marshals realize there is a problem preventing a quick extraction as the McLaren could not go into neutral. This makes the car unbearable and requires entry a crane. In these types of situations, more later Japan 2014it is normal for a red flag to appear for safety reasons.

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— Gaia 🦭 (@sempre_negativ_) September 11, 2022

However, Race Direction did not deem it appropriate: “Every effort was made to remove Ricciardo’s car as quickly as possible and restart the race. The stewards were unable to put him in neutral and guide him to the escape route. The incident was not significant enough to flag. “

Because the race is over below safety car?

Finish a match down safety car It is nothing new in Formula 1 and has happened on more than one occasion, especially due to safety or weather conditions. His problem FIA and Race Direction is that after what happened to Abu Dhabi 2021 Measures have been taken to ensure that a similar case does not recur with the rerun process.

On the one hand, Race Direction made the mistake of not allowing all drivers to split and enter the first lap because Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda, Nicholas Latifi and Kevin Magnussen They were left with one less turn. Consequently, the safety car retired to boxes before the checkered flag, another mistake, because according to FIA rules, until everything unfolds, he cannot leave the track.

This is what her representative said FIA about why the match ended safety car:

“Although every effort was made to quickly recover the number 3 car and restart the race, the situation developed and the stewards were unable to put the car into neutral and push it towards the escape route.

“As the safety of the car removal operation is our only priority and the incident was not significant enough to warrant a red flag, the race was finished under safety car following the procedures agreed between the FIA ​​and all competitors. .

“The timing of the safety car period in a race has nothing to do with this process.”

Getting this procedure wrong could have significant consequences for the championship because, should any driver have a time penalty, it would be a blur if they didn’t cross the finish line on schedule. safety car increasing their distance from those behind.