FIA defend Aston Martin Safety Car
14th April 2022Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, have defended the use of Aston Martin’s safety car as drivers mocked the V8 Vantage.
The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, more commonly known as the FIA, has hit back at criticism regarding Aston Martin’s safety car – which made it’s 2022 debut at last weeks Australian Grand Prix.
In a post, on Twitter, the FIA stated:
“In light of recent comments regarding the pace of the FIA Formula 1 Safety Car, the FIA would like to reiterate that the primary function of the FIA Formula 1 Safety Car is, of course, not outright speed, but the safety of the drivers, marshals and officials,” it wrote.
“The safety car procedures take into account multiple objectives, depending upon the incident in question, including the requirement to ‘bunch up’ the field, negotiate an incident recovery or debris on track in a safe manner and adjust the pace depending on recovery activities that may be ongoing in a different part of the track.”
As drivers complained they couldn’t rise their Pirelli compounds to the optimal tyre temperature, the FIA defended the speed of the safety car:
“The speed of the safety car is therefore 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.
“The impact of the speed of the safety car on the performance of the cars following is a secondary consideration, as the impact is equal amongst all competitors who, as is always the case, are responsible for driving in a safe manner at all times according to the conditions of their car and the circuit.”
This comes after drivers critiqued the slow nature of the safety car during its first appearance in the 2022 F1 season.
The defending F1 World Champion, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen said the Vantage ‘was like a turtle.’
While Mercedes’ George Russell also quipped the Mercedes safety car was ‘five seconds’ quicker than the Aston Martin.
The green Aston Martin safety car will make 12 appearances this year and is, according to Aston Martin, ‘the fastest, most track-focused Vantage to date and the ultimate expression of performance and dynamism.’
That’s it for the article: FIA defend Aston Martin Safety Car! What do you think, do you agree with the FIA or the drivers? Let us know in the comments!
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