Some changes to testing regulations and safety car procedures

http://www.f1racing.net/en/news.php?newsID=133305

That new safety car rule will going to create some funny... or crazy situations. Though not a totally bad rule.

good to see them doing some things for the fans with practice and wanting the real drivers out on track some more on fridays

Pace car rule makes lots of sense IMO.

finally something the FIA has done right

Wait... Do lapped cars get their lap back?
If not, they could just have the lead lap cars pass the lapped cars, and *not* create a problem for the timing systems.

i see the new pace car idea making no sense, but allows for much more entertainment in the back of the field.

"Another change involves safety cars where lapped cars will be allowed past the pace car so they don't get in the way of the leaders. Any lapped car between cars running on the lead lap will have to pass those cars and the safety car and proceed around the track to take up position at the back of the line of cars behind the safety car."

^^^ Great new rule ^^^

What's interesting about the safety car rule is that the whole point of it is to slow the F1's to a safe speed because there's been an accident. Doesn't it sort of go against that logic to let some cars past the safety car so they can nail it for a lap to catch the rest of the field..

@TagForce: I'd imagine the rule only applies to lapped cars in front of the leader, in which case they'd not get the lap back just catch up with the other backmarkers.

@NAI: I think Tagforce is right. The safety car has always in the past picked up the leader and let lower placed cars ahead of him through, but now lapped cars that are between cars on the lead lap (like cars which the leader has lapped but nooone else has yet) will have to pass the safety car and once they are effectively back on the lead lap, they can return to the tail of the field.
I guess it's just to make restarts more interesting. Rather than have Leader/backmarker/backmarker/second-place/third/backmarker etc, now they will punish the leader even more when a safety car comes out, because no matter how many cars he has safely lapped, he will have the second place car right behind him at the green.

I just don't get what the FIA is trying to achieve with this new safety car rule. It just sounds so made up. When are the lapped cars allowed to pass the safety car and when not?

Quote from NotAnIllusion :

@TagForce: I'd imagine the rule only applies to lapped cars in front of the leader, in which case they'd not get the lap back just catch up with the other backmarkers.

That's what happens now. That wouldn't actually change anything.

[off-topic]
Carom3D... For some reason it feels incomplete... Like, where are the jumpshots?
[/off-topic]

Quote from Hyperactive :

I just don't get what the FIA is trying to achieve with this new safety car rule. It just sounds so made up. When are the lapped cars allowed to pass the safety car and when not?

at one of the recent races a backmacker held up the field badly as the lead car stormed away out of the last few corners and no one can pass until the S/F line. Its a good rule however the backmarkers should drop back through the field rather than drive around and join the tail.

Quote from sil3ntwar :

at one of the recent races a backmacker held up the field badly as the lead car stormed away out of the last few corners and no one can pass until the S/F line. Its a good rule however the backmarkers should drop back through the field rather than drive around and join the tail.

That was team Pakistan at the Zandvoort A1GP race. Was funny as hell... You could see him think: "Ok, what should I do now? Accelerate, Move, or just stay where I'm at?!"

I can't wait to see the Safety Car take place next season already , an very interesting rule indeed.

It sounds a little farcicle to me.

@Sinbad: Yeah, I get what you mean. The flu is getting to me..

I can't say I like the idea of allowing lapped cars magically get their laps back. Instead I'd much prefer a stricter quali time cap where cars doing laps 3 sec (or w/e) slower times would be told to go find another hobby. If someone is lapped for other reasons it's their fault, and they can go figure out why it happened, so it doesn't in the next race.

@TagForce: It's no VP3, but it is free (exceptions apply)

Quote from turbo4door :

finally something the FIA has done right

maFIA has done so much bad that few new rules isn't going to change anything