The FIA communications department has certainly asked its officials to react after the controversies that occurred at the Qatar Grand Prix yesterday.
It is therefore through a press release sent this morning to the media that the FIA sends a short note to explain the basis of its decisions which have caused controversy and in particular, the first: why this mirror that fell from Alex Albon's F1 was not has it not been recovered?
“Normal practice is not to deploy the safety car if there is a small amount of debris and out of the racing line.”
“The numerous debris after a car (Bottas) hit the mirror and the punctures that occurred shortly after forced the decision to use the safety car.”
“A Virtual Safety Car (VSC) would not have been a solution, as the cars remain scattered and there is not enough time for a track marshal to clear the debris.”
“The FIA is constantly reviewing its methods and processes and will analyze the specific scenario in more detail and discuss it with the teams to see if, in the future, another course of action should be taken.”
Regarding the heavy penalty imposed on Lando Norris (10 seconds stop and go), the FIA noted that:
“The penalty was consistent with the penalty guidelines issued to teams on February 19, 2024.”
“A double yellow flag violation is considered a serious breach of safety, which is why such violations carry such a severe penalty.”
Additionally, the FIA also revealed what happened when the safety car lights malfunctioned during the race.
“During the second intervention of the safety car, the lights malfunctioned.”
“All teams were informed verbally of the withdrawal of the safety car, so the restart took place normally.”
“Although the reason for the malfunction was identified and resolved, as a precaution, the safety car was swapped out in time for its third deployment.”
