Drivers are losing grip due to the slow pace of the Vantage-based safety car.
The 2022 Formula 1 championship season is shaping up to be a fine one, and Ferrari is finally back at the top as the extravaganza heads to Italy this weekend. Following success at the Australian Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc will be looking to extend his championship advantage and creep further away from Mercedes-AMG’s Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. But while the championship race has been getting more and more exciting, there is one aspect of F1 that seems to be causing controversy again. The Aston Martin Vantage safety car that helped manage the field at the recent Aussie GP has been lambasted by some of F1’s drivers for being too slow, but the sport’s governing body feels differently, as the below tweet highlights.
The FIA’s response refuses to point any fingers and simply says that “the speed of the Safety Car is […] 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.”
This comes after Ferrari’s Leclerc was behind the Aston Martin Vantage safety car during the last race and complained of the pace that was being set: “I was struggling massively to put some temperature in them, so I also struggled,” said Leclerc. “To be honest, I wanted to complain [during the race], 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 put too much pressure.”
Reigning champion Max Verstappen has made similar comments, saying that the Aston is “like a turtle” and that this negatively impacts the 18-inch tires that were introduced this season. These tires have already been the subject of increased scrutiny due to their unique wear properties, and having them go cold in the middle of a race because the pace car is too slow is not helping any of the teams. And as Mercedes-AMG’s George Russell boasted of his brand, the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series safety car is five seconds a lap quicker.
Okay, but these are the opinions of drivers in much faster cars, so their response may be based on an unfair perspective, right? Apparently, they’re on the money. Speaking with German publication Auto Motor und Sport, the man behind the wheel of the safety car agrees: “Of course, it’s nice that Charles Leclerc saw that I was absolutely at the limit,” said Bernd Maylander, a former DTM racer himself. “More was not possible with the best will in the world.”
Something needs to be done to give the Aston more grip, or its slow pace could lead to colder tires that could create more crashes, which is exactly what this car is supposed to prevent.
