F1: Safety car backmarker plan rejected

Formula 1 teams have rejected the idea of changing the rules regarding lapped cars in safety car periods.

The teams met over the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend to discuss a tweak to the regulations to minimize delays in getting races restarted. There have been concerns that it is taking too long for backmarkers to unlap themselves behind the safety car.

One solution that was tabled for discussion in a sporting regulations working group meeting was that instead of unlapping themselves, the relevant cars simply drop to the back of the field. This action could be completed in a single lap and would ensure that the race could restart as soon as possible. In exchange for dropping back rather than moving forward, the lapped cars would be credited a lap.

However, following more detailed analysis of the implications, it emerged that there were unintended consequences from such a rule change. First, crediting laps would cause a big problem for timing data and risked causing confusion on the detailed lap chart analysis that is provided by Formula One Management.

Furthermore, with teams limited to 100kg of fuel for a race, the crediting of a lap without actually driving it risked handing lapped cars an advantage, as it effectively gives them a free lap's worth of fuel.

Teams expressed concern that this fuel credit could have a big impact on race performance and would disadvantage cars that had not been lapped as they would not have a free lap.