NathanOlder wrote: ↑06 Mar 2022, 16:21
chrisc90 wrote: ↑06 Mar 2022, 16:11
NathanOlder wrote: ↑06 Mar 2022, 16:01
Can you just clarify which safety car etc. I assume you mean when the SC was launched for Mick Schumacher in Saudi ?
Thats the one. Lap 10 I'm believe it was. I did reference it in the linked video at around 1mins 15seconds in on the official F1 highlights video.
So the SC was launched, and then the Merc's decide to pit. If Bottas got to 10 lengths of Lewis, he would have got a penalty for going TOO FAST. He cant catch up to the back of Lewis. The drivers have to drive to a delta (which means no faster than a set time in each mini sector) until they catch the SC and then follow the car ahead at the SC speed. So to think Bottas should have been within 10 car lengths of Lewis is completely wrong. He can't catch Lewis at that stage.
Interesting. I think that entirely depends how long the SC had been out and whether they had caught it up or not. A re-run of the race would be the only way to determine that as from the highlights its not possible.
Without knowing how the rules are written for the 10 car length gap, it makes it hard to comment, but if you were already caught up to the car infront (who hadnt caught the SC itself) then I cant see why you would be allowed to drop back out of that 10 car length gap. Of course there is probably set times they need to adhere to under the yellow flag conditions.
I mean the rules could be pretty flawed at this point. Team car A drives to the maximum speed, and team car B goes at the minimum speed (if there is one) That way car B can allow car A to get a huge gap and effectively back the pack up giving car A a huge advantage. if theres only 1 lap of SC then they never get onto the SC train and car B has sucessfully given car A a massive lead when normal racing resumes.
EDIT: Just found the rules, cars must do the minimum time set by the FIA for the track. BUT once behind the SC, they cant drop out of the 10 car length window.
So the question would be next, were they behind the SC at that moment? I guess you do have the loophole I mentioned above regarding car B slowing the rest of the pack up whilst car A travels much faster.
BUT I guess that is covered by cars not being allowed to drive unnecessarily slowly - which Bottas was doing in order to build a gap for the double stack