The FIA has officially responded to Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen’s comments regarding the speed and performance of the Safety Car during the Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne.
Starting with 2021, Formula 1 has used two different Safety Car models during the championship. The car used last weekend in Australia was an Aston Martin Vantage, while a Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series appeared in the opening two rounds of the 2022 campaign, the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen felt the Safety Car was being driven too slowly during the Australian Grand Prix and at the end of the race described it as being like a “turtle”.
At the same time, Mercedes driver George Russell believes there is a significant performance difference between the two Safety Car models: “We don’t have the issue with the Mercedes AMG Safety Car. On a serious note, the Mercedes AMG is like five seconds a lot quicker than the Aston Martin Safety Car, which is pretty substantial.” – he explained.
Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc, who was leading the race and was therefore right behind the Safety Car in Melbourne, explained that “it always feels too slow” because F1 cars have such superior performance. We have so much grip and it’s very, very difficult, especially on the compound we were all on, which was the hards. I was struggling massively to put some temperature in them so I also struggled. To be honest, I wanted to complain, but then I checked how much the Safety Car was sliding in the corner and I don’t think there was anything more that he could give so I didn’t want to push too much pressure. It’s the way it is. But for sure with the cars that we have now it’s very difficult to keep the temperatures in the tyres behind the Safety Car.” – the Ferrari driver added.
Earlier today, the FIA released a statement in which it has declared that speed is not “the primary function” of the Formula 1 Safety Car. Here is the full press relsease:
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“In light of recent comments regarding the pace of the FIA Formula 1 Safety Car, the FIA would like to reiterate that the primary function of the FIA Formula 1 Safety Car is, of course, not outright speed, but the safety of the drivers, marshals and officials. The Safety Car procedures take into account multiple objectives, depending upon the incident in question, including the requirement to ‘bunch up’ the field, negotiate an incident recovery or debris on track in a safe manner and adjust the pace depending on recovery activities that may be ongoing in a different part of the track. The speed of the Safety Car is therefore generally dictated by race control, and not limited by the capabilities of the Safety Cars, which are bespoke high-performance vehicles prepared by two of the world’s top manufacturers, equipped to deal with changeable track conditions at all times and driven by a hugely experienced and capable driver and co-driver. The impact of the speed of the Safety Car on the performance of the cars following is a secondary consideration, as the impact is equal amongst all competitors who, as is always the case, are responsible for driving in a safe manner at all times according to the conditions of their car and the circuit.”
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