‘Minimum two laps to be completed…,’ FIA announce new safety car regulations after Belgian GP controversy in 2021
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Max Verstappen
FIA has had to have a good hard look at the regulations and their decision making after a barrage of allegations and controversies that came flying their way, which has eventually resulted in the changes from last year’s rules.
Out of the many controversies, one was definitely the Belgian Grand Prix. This controversy surfaced when Red Bull’s driver and current world champion Max Verstappen won the Belgian Grand Prix without racing a single lap without the safety car.
There was almost three hours of waiting for the rain to subside and eventually it started from the pit lane. Then the conditions continued to get worse and after completing the two laps required behind the safety car to award the points to the leader.
He was awarded half of the points as there was no racing lap. This had happened for only the sixth time in the Formula one’s history. This sounds wrong on the face of it and there has been a reaction from FIA’s camp.
George Russell finished second for Williams, his first Formula One podium, with seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton third for Mercedes which saw Hamilton’s overall lead over Verstappen cut from eight points to three.
FIA needed to intervene sooner rather than later to get rid of this mundane regulation
There were plenty of reactions that were recorded post the race. “Several drivers said even half-points should not have been awarded. Mercedes’s seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton called it a farce and said fans should get their money back.”
“If there were actually no race laps, no competition, why should points be given or any result be given?” asked Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Now the FIA has decided to step in. “The FIA announce no points will be awarded unless at least two laps have been completed by the leader without a SC or VSC intervention,” as posted on Twitter.
This is a move which makes complete sense and it had to be done sooner rather than later because this was definitely a regulation which needed to be looked into as it looked wrong prima facie. This will come as a relief for the drivers as each and every will come down to racing and talent and not luck.
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Shubham Bajpai
(776 Articles Published)