Safety Car rule sorted (at last)

Finally, the safety car rules have been changed for the upcoming Formula One season.

The outgoing rules were nothing short of farcical. Designed to ‘slow’ people down from racing back to the pits; it caused more harm than good. Many a good race for a driver was ruined by having to come to the pits while it was ‘closed’. The penalty for which was another trip down pit-lane under race conditions.

Not that it actually stopped mayhem from happening on track. Canada and Singapore still live in the mind for pit-road antics that happened while under the safety car period.

The new rules for safety cars state that once the safety car is deployed, drivers will be warned. Depending on track position and the area of the accident, drivers will be given a maximum speed that they can maintain back to the pits. The pit-lane will remain open.

Goodbye to a farcical rule. While well intentioned, it was clearly not thought out. It is a shame that it took this long to implement. After Melbourne, we all saw the problem. Eleven months later, the solution is found.