Hulkenberg, Russell & Verstappen Question FIA's Handling of Baku Crash
Sep.16 - Three experienced Formula 1 drivers have hit out at the FIA for its handling of the Sergio Perez-Carlos Sainz crash on the penultimate lap of the Azerbaijan GP.
Given the scale of the incident on the concrete-lined streets of Baku, many were shocked that race management did not immediately wave the red flag.
"I'm surprised," Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg admitted.
"Huge crash, a war zone with debris everywhere. There was a double yellow flag, and then suddenly green again, which really surprised me. I got caught on my heels and lost a few positions," he said.
"I also hit something big and wasn't quite sure what had happened to my front wing. Yeah, very surreal final two laps."
George Russell, a Mercedes driver but also a senior director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, also questions the way the FIA handled the incident - with an eventual virtual safety car.
"Full gas into a wall of carbon fibre on the penultimate lap," he said when asked what the most notable moment of his Azerbaijan GP experience was.
"I mean, that was pretty crazy," added Russell. "The sun was coming down. You couldn't see anything. I was shocked the safety car or VSC didn't come out sooner.
"You know, the cars could have been anywhere. So, glad to see everybody was ok."
As for triple world champion Max Verstappen, he may have been among those who suspect the sport may have prioritised a finish to the race that was more spectacular than a red flag or safety car.
"That should have been a safety car straight away," said the Red Bull driver. "I don't understand this at all. Two cars had just crashed into the wall at high speed.
"I don't understand why it took them (race officials) so long. Then they wave double yellow flags. Just send out the safety car!" Verstappen exclaimed.
"Nothing more is going to happen anyway, and the whole track is full of junk and parts. Why do we get a virtual safety car then?" he wondered.
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Incompetence or manipulation?
Manipulation
They manipulated it Man, Im gonnaaa cry, oh yeah and Merc are sabotaging my car now. Hamilton was quoted in the pen
Spot on
Don't bite the hand that feeds you
Poor loser?
I was shocked the race wasn't immediately red flagged with the danger posed by amount of debris and damaged cars on the track.
I mean, red flags are initiated during practice and qualifying for many more minor incidents at circuits, so I don't understand why a major crash such as this didn't instigate an immediate race stoppage. After all, by the rules, the race could have been declared and full points awarded. It was the penultimate lap!
Zero need for red-flagging. VSC was perfectly okay, especially given the the race was close to its end anyway.
I agree with them & unfortunately, not for the first time either.
Simply baffling that race control more often than not unnecessarily waits with SC & VSC (sometimes also with red-flagging) deployments, even though they can see from their many angles that a car (or cars) won’t be moving anywhere, yet they still wait & wait for the sake of waiting, which will lead to something horrible in the long term as they can’t be lucky forever.
The worst thing is that they always do so without an apparent or justifiable reason.