Safety Car??????????????????????

[Valve Bounce]

There must be guidelines as to when the race is stopped. This is not something that is done for convenience nor spectacle. There must be a blocked track or injury considerations. This is not quals where the quals can be extended and the car and debris is removed. It was necessary for drivers to take greater care, as MSch urged, in going into the first corner. Too bad his brother and his team mate were responsible for the carnage. Ironical.

[Nicholas]

Originally posted by Don K
As far as I know, he was wearing contact lenses.

He's wearing glasses.

[Don K]

Originally posted by nicholaswhite
He's wearing glasses.

Strange.
During the training sessions he was wearing contact lenses, because they couldn't find a safe way to let him wear glasses under his helmet during the last months.
And now you're telling me that they suddenly came up with a solution between qualifying and the race???

[Coach44]

Originally posted by hakkiman
The safety car was the right decision. The red flagg should only be shown if a driver is trapped or there is an injured person that an ambulance needs to get to.

I agree it was the right decision...too bad that the same principle does not apply whem MS is involved (i.e Burti hitting the rear of his Ferrari)

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Don K
As far as I know, he was wearing contact lenses.

i would say that he proberbly wasn't wearing them!! maybe thats why he didn't see rubens car in front!

[Damon]

Originally posted by Coach44

...too bad that the same principle does not apply whem MS is involved (i.e Burti hitting the rear of his Ferrari)

I am in no doubt what so ever that the race would have been restarted had Schu been involved. It's happened so many times before. Germany last year and Austria 2000 are 2 examples that spring immediately to mind.

[rick vaux]

.........i bet the Prof stubbed out his cuban pretty quickly.......

[Super Tourer]

Personally, I think increased use of the safety car is a good thing. It open's up opportunites right through the field. I would ban spare car use at re-start's - if you get caught up in an incident - tough that's racing.

As long as their isn't a safety issue - keep the race going - restart's are unfair to driver's who keep out of trouble and do a clean start/first lap.

Removing the luxury of using a spare car at a restart - would bring some drivers down to earth.

[ljakse]

No spare cars - I like the idea.
If that would be the case, than we wouldn't have to watch restarts everytime TGF is involved in starting accident.

[Mania]

The race should have been red flagged at the start - or else whats the point of having spare cars? I mean, half the grid was gone and you're not going to generate interest if the drivers are all watching from the pit lane. Its ridiculous.

The safety car was the right decision when Trulli went into the wall but it should not have been out at the start. That should have been a clear red flag.

[Alan Jones]

I think the only reason there was no red flag might have something to do with TGF still on the track and running. Thats my conspiracy theory anyway!!!!!!

Still, that's the way the 'ole cookie crumbles and i for one didn't mind as the result was excellent. NO Ralf, no Rubino, and Webber in the points!!!!

[Valve Bounce]

Yeah!! Webbster in the points was the best result for all. Where the hell is Minardi fan?

[Alan Jones]

Still drinking Valve, yesterday's result is a day that will live for all time in history and should be celebrated as such.

[calcium]

Safety car was the right decision.First impressions of the"incident"was to get the red flags out,but the right decision was made under huge pressure.Well done Australia.It's just ashame it was Rubens involved in the first incident and not Michael!

[Glen]

Whilst, as has been said here, one couldn't really justify a re-start purely on a "by-the-rules" basis, I do think that officials should consider the extremely high traffic density at the first and second corners and give us a re-start purely because of the extreme bad luck of getting caught up in someone else's accident.

I'd like to have seen JPM beat Ralf on the track!

Big shame about Sauber, and all the others (Jenson Button for one) who didn't get a chance to prove themselves - half way round the world with hundreds of staff and millions of pounds worth of kit, all for ten seconds of mayhem.

[racer69]

Safety Car was the right and i believe the only correct decision.

The safety Car is there to keep the race going going in spite of an accident, and as long as there is room to get through the acident, then the safety car should be used, unless there is an injury (Burti last year) or the track is completly blocked or there is debris covering the track (Hockenheim 2001). As much as some like to believe it, if M Schu was involved in the crash, i think the SC would still have been used.

[mac]

Originally posted by Glen
Big shame about Sauber, and all the others (Jenson Button for one) who didn't get a chance to prove themselves - half way round the world with hundreds of staff and millions of pounds worth of kit, all for ten seconds of mayhem.

The carnage was the fault of the Sauber drivers (particularly Nick) who turned a two car accident into an eight car accident with some very silly driving.

[Damon]

Would have loved to have seen Heidfelds on board at the first corner. He seemed to misjudge his braking point by about mile.