A dramatic sixth round of the 2021 season in Baku was interrupted after a sudden flat tire for Max Verstappen plunged the Red Bull driver into a high-speed crash with the guardrails on lap 46 of the 51-lap race.
After an initial safety car phase, the race was interrupted on lap 48 to clear the rubble. Half an hour late, the decision was made to restart the race from a standing start, which led to a hectic sprint over two laps to the checkered flag.
If there is an interruption with more than 75% covered distance, F1 has the option to declare races over, while events in the past were also ended under safety car conditions, most recently at the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2019.
“We have had the racing suspension regulations for a number of years,” said Masi.
“Many, many years ago, when a race got a red flag after a certain distance, it went back two laps, and so on.
“But of course there is the option of not restarting with the race suspension, but within the timeframe and format of the regulations we can restart and there was no reason not to.”
While Verstappen’s accident resulted in a red flag, only a safety car was deemed necessary after Lance Stroll’s almost identical high-speed accident at the start of the race.
On the subject of matching items
“In the middle of the race there was more than enough time and space on the right side of the track when we recovered,” explained Masi.
“And I was confident how that could be cleared up that way.
“When we looked at it, we weren’t sure that the salvage on the pit lane straight and the amount of rubble that was everywhere could be removed in time.
“So we thought it would be in the best interest of the sport to sit out and then start again under these circumstances.”
After the race, the first three drivers on the podium suspected that the decision to restart for a sprint over two laps was based more on the entertainment factor.
On the subject of matching items
“In the past it has become more and more like that, more and more geared towards creating a show, so I hope that the races will be more exciting in the future,” said Sebastian Vettel, who took his first podium for Aston Martin.
“I think today was probably an exciting race for different things and so on, but yeah, I think we just have to be careful that it doesn’t get too artificial and that we don’t lose the roots of the sport.”
After his third podium in his career, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly joked, “The Americans have taken over, so I wasn’t really surprised that entertainment comes first.
“No, I was pretty happy. It always brings a little more excitement. If anything, hopefully they will do the same in the future. “
In the meantime, race winner Sergio Perez demanded that Konstanz should be used in similar scenarios in the future.
“We didn’t do that in Imola, we didn’t have a standing start, but I think it was a little unfair with the rain there, the right side of the track was wet,” he added.
“As long as we stick to it consistently, it will certainly help the fans to stay with TV. I think they have the most comfortable two laps in the race. And they made it very difficult for me in any case. “
During the safety car phase, a message was broadcast between Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley and Masi suggesting that Wheatley abandon the race.
But Masi said that news didn’t trigger the red flag, revealing that he already thought suspension was the best course of action to clear up the debris and allow the field to change tires.
“To be fair, it was actually already in my head,” said Masi.
“But from the perspective of our communication, we communicate with everyone equally, of course, with a view to the number of laps we had to drive, the recovery carried out and the fact that there was so much debris in the pits at this point.
“In my opinion, the best option was to stop the race, clean everything up and then finish a race.”
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