How far the labile can be pushed, in the world of motorsport in general and in F1 in particular border between show and sporting event? This question should be answered with sincerity by the leaders of F1 and the FIA, as well as all the drivers and team principals of the most important championship in the automotive sector, before deciding whether it is really appropriate to implement many of the solutions that are emerging in the form of indiscretion these days. Abolition of the Virtual Safety Car, greater use of the ‘traditional’ SC, greater freedom of ‘action’ as regards the DRS are all ideas that point in a very clear direction: increase the brawl on the track, encourage overtaking and above all avoid the escape of a possible lonely leader that he had a much faster pace than the rest of the group.
This is a legitimate action plan, but one that risks becoming excessively penalizing for those in command of the race. Seeking competitive balance in order to have championships that are as balanced as possible is normal and right for a professional sport, but this must be achieved by striving to put all participants in a position to compete from a similar level. Something that, for example, we tried to do, with some success, with the new technical regulation of 2022. If, on the other hand, the challenges on the track are created artificially stopping a race or by allowing all pilots except the race leader to use the mobile wing, the sporting aspect is inevitably emptied.
Nobody is against the existence of the Safety Car, but the safety car must remain – precisely – one tool used when creating a real danger situation on the track. To abuse it – even more than it already happens today – would be not only wrong but also dangerous. In fact, the risk is that we will no longer realize the difference between minor accidents and more serious accidents, which really require a neutralization of the race. Everyone prefers to have balanced races and championships and fought until the last corner, but the pursuit of excellence should not be punished for this and above all its eventual achievement.
If a driver or a team deserved to win a GP with 20 seconds of advantage or a championship with four races to go, it would be very wrong to penalize them for that. It is precisely the races or seasons dominated by a single driver that make it possible to appreciate even more vintages such as the one – merely by way of example – of 2021, contests on the wool thread between antagonist teams. Forgetting about this would mean flattening the F1 product and homologate one race to another, one season to another. And it would be an unforgivable mistake.
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