Early closing
The race held on Sunday in Baku was the 16th in the history of Formula 1 to end in a non-green flag situation. This year there had already been a precedent, in Australia, with the victory of Carlos Sainz. This time it was Oscar Piastri who won in a GP that saw his two last rounds neutralized due to the accident that put Sainz and Sergio Perez offside while they were duelling for the podium.
The clash between Ferrari and Red Bull has however led – contrary to what one might have expected – to theIntroduction of the Virtual Safety Car instead of the ‘real’ safety car or even a red flag. A choice that penalised Nico Hulkenberg in particular – who ended up out of the points due to some debris collected in the accident – but which was not entirely convincing even in terms of safety on the track, given the extent of the accident and the fact that there were just two laps to go until the checkered flag.
Max’s criticisms
The reigning world champion has made himself the spokesperson for these doubts, Max Verstappenwho was actually investigated after the race – and then only received a warning – for having overtaken other cars after the end of the race, when the VSC regime was still active. According to the Dutch superstar, it was the decision not to immediately put the ‘real’ Safety Car on the track is incomprehensible.
“They should have brought in the Safety Ca immediatelyr – thundered the #1 of the Red Bull team speaking to the Dutch media – It’s something I don’t understand. I mean, there are two cars crashed into the wall. I don’t understand why it should take so long. And then there was a double yellow flag. Why double? All they had to do was bring the Safety Car out! The track was completely blocked, there was debris everywhere and there was damage. Why put the Virtual?”.
#Final #VSC #Verstappen #critical #debris
