Is It Time To Fix Safety Car Rules Yet?

Let me get this out of the way first.  Robert Kubica, you drove a great race, beat your teammate’s pit strategy, and have shown  that BMW can be a force in F1.  Good on you!  But I must point out that you did benefit from a very strange pit accident.

As all of my readers are aware, Lewis Hamilton made a costly and inexcusable mistake by driving into a stationary car while the pit exits were closed.  There should be enough checks within the McLaren team to point out to him that the exits are closed, or that the cars are stopped, or Lewis could have noticed he was gaining on cars in the pit lane.  There were many signals that could have been sent, and some that were, and Lewis and McLaren missed them all until it was too late.  However, I have a small amount of pity for Lewis.  He and his team did screw up, but the current safety car periods are confusing and are not encouraging the safety the rules changes were intended to bring.

Before I totally change topics, yes Lewis Hamilton deserved a penalty.  I even said to someone as I was watching the race with that he should lose ten spots at the next race.  No punishment would be absurd as he did cause a preventable accident, and he did not ruin just his own race.  However, a more severe punishment is unfair as Lewis was doing nothing malicious.  He wasn't trying to knock Kimi out of the race.  Given his race pace Lewis would likely be favored to win that race unless Kimi can pull away with an open track.  Lewis had nothing to gain, and I am sure he was aware he was in the wrong, but that doesn't undo him ending someone else’s race in the manner he did.

Back to the topic at hand; the current safety car periods are unfair, chaotic, and no safer than in the past.  This is not the first time the safety car has been a huge factor this year for any team.  This isn't the second time.  This is the third.  Maybe someone is caught out at a bad time and needs to get fuel while the pits are closed.  Or maybe there is a crash.  Or maybe, as in Monaco, Lewis Hamilton had two well timed safety car periods.

I doubt you can find one person who is against a safety car as a method to reduce the chance of life loss in F1.  They are needed to protect the lives and safety of everyone involved.  Furthermore, Formula One fans are aware that safety car periods will affect the race by eliminating previous gains, and can give a great boost to a lucky driver.  That is part of the sport.  Lewis's luck at Monaco, and his excellent drive, gave him the win.  That is bound to happen.  But is there something that can be done?

I think so, and here are the rules I would suggest:

• When the safety car is deployed, all teams are notified and the track enters a full caution.  Any on track pass is illegal until the safety leaves the track.  An exception is made for any car that is retiring while still on the race track.
• The pit lanes remain open during the entire safety period.  Any positions lost on track while in the pit lane will not be regained during the safety period.
• A car may not run any sector within 10% of their average sector time.  For example, if a sector is run on average in 30 seconds, a car may not run the sector faster than 33 seconds.
• As a car crosses the white exit line out of the pit lane, it will resume its position on track behind the car which most recently crossed the on track start-finish line with which it shares a lap.  The race directors will inform the driver and team which position this is.  In other words, a driver will lose positions to every driver that crossed the start finish line and who didn't pit on his or her current lap.
• If two cars leave the pit lane side by side, the first car to have its front tires cross the white line will be given the lead position of the two.
• Lapped cars in-between lead lap cars will be ushered around the leaders and regain one lost lap.  The lead lap cars will be behind the safety car in the running order.
• The safety car will remain out on the track until the safety hazard is cleared and lapped traffic, which may be on its way to resuming its position at the back of the running order, is at least one sector ahead of the safety car.
• Any regulation requirements (such as running two tire compounds) may not be met during the safety car period.  For example, if a car enters the safety period on a hard compound, and ends the period on a hard compound, no number of laps on a soft tire compound during this period will satisfy the 2008 sporting regulations.
• If a lead lap car is considered to be taking too long in presuming its correct position in the running order (such as to gain a competitive advantage) a warning will be issued.  If ignored, a black flag will result.

Some of these suggestions should be common sense, such as no passing on track during a yellow.  But I wrote these in such a way as to reduce the number of competitive advantages that can be gained by sheer luck.  Furthermore, with the lapped cars in the back, or at least one timing sector ahead on track, they will not play a role in the restart.

The focus of the safety car period is safety.  It should have as little affect on the race result as possible.  Furthermore, all of my suggestions are possible in this digital era.  What do you think?  Have you had enough of this safety car era?