(Motorsport-Total.com) – McLaren team principal Andrea Stella sees no reason to criticize the race director for the controversial Virtual Safety Car phase at the Formula 1 race in Madrid, despite the bitter outcome for his team. Stella emphasizes that the race director can only apply the existing guidelines and rules during an ongoing race.
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“As always, when the timing or duration of a Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car has a big impact on a race, there is the possibility to review whether we can do things differently,” says Stella. However, that is not the responsibility of the race director.
He has a clearly defined task during the race. “The race director applies the guidelines and rules that are in effect at the time of the race he is directing,” explains Stella. In a situation that triggers a Virtual Safety Car, his attention must focus on when the conditions for activating and deactivating the VSC are met.
“They did a good job”
Even though Lando Norris was the victim of the VSC timing in Madrid, Stella therefore considers it wrong to expect the race director to simultaneously evaluate the race events. “I don’t think he looks at what is currently happening in the race. That would be a big distraction,” says the McLaren team principal.
McLaren therefore has no complaints about the work of the race director himself. “We have absolutely no comment on the race director. I think they did a good job given the current guidelines,” the Italian makes clear.
However, the McLaren boss does consider a fundamental discussion about the rules to be quite sensible. The Formula 1 community must ask itself whether the current procedures should be maintained or whether there are ways to ensure more fairness.
“Maybe there is a broader consideration that the Formula 1 community should make about whether to leave things as they are or introduce possibilities to ensure more fairness,” says Stella. But that is not a task for the race director.
Stella himself is undecided about the VSC rule
Whether the rules around the VSC should actually be changed, Stella himself cannot clearly answer. “Honestly, I am initially at a loss. Hopefully, that is my personal opinion – I myself am undecided about what is right,” he explains.
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A possible solution would be to set the duration of a VSC so that all drivers complete at least one full lap under the same conditions. “Is it right to set the duration so that everyone is exposed to the same track conditions? For example, that the VSC lasts at least one full lap?”
The alternative would be to keep the current situation and thus accept that the timing of the VSC can have a significant impact. “Or do you just leave it to the gods? Sometimes you are lucky, sometimes not. I am not sure myself.”
Changes would be a long process
For a possible reform, Stella sees the Strategy Advisory Committee, or SAC, as the right place for the discussion. “In general, the right place for this kind of conversation is the Strategy Advisory Committee, the famous SAC,” he says.
The topic could be put on the agenda there and then discussed. However, a change would not be implemented in the short term. “If there is a change, it must go through the SAC, then through the F1 Commission, and eventually we have to get to the Sporting Regulations.”
Stella therefore expects a longer process. “I would assume that this is a relatively lengthy process,” believes the McLaren team principal. A faster solution would only be conceivable from his point of view if Formula 1 or the FIA themselves saw a great pressure to act.
“Unless there is a big push from Formula 1, from the institutions, the FIA or F1, saying: We have to do this differently,” says Stella. “As a participant, I currently wouldn’t have a clear idea,” he admits.
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