“Not outright speed, but the safety of the drivers” - FIA releases statement of caution after slow F1 safety car concerns

Amidst concerns about the speed of the F1 safety car expressed by the drivers, the FIA has come out with its official statement. In a statement posted on FIA's social media handles, it said:

“The primary function of the F1 safety car is, of course, not the outright speed, but the safety of the drivers, marshals and officials.”

The statement further stated that the speed of the safety car was dictated by the Race Control, not by the capabilities of the vehicle used. It said:

“The speed of the Safety Car is generally dictated by the Race Control, and not limited by the capabilities of the Safety Cars, which are bespoke high-performance vehicles prepared by two of the world’s top manufacturers, equipped to deal with changeable track conditions at all times and driven by a hugely experienced and capable driver and co-driver.”

It also read that the impact of the speed of the safety car on the chasing pack was a secondary consideration as the impact was going to be equal amongst all the competitors. It further stated:

“The impact of the safety car on the performance of the cars following is a secondary consideration, as the impact is equal amongst all the competitors who, as is always the case, are responsible for driving in a safe manner at all times according to the conditions of their car and the circuit.”

The recent statement is a clear reply to comments recently made against the speed of the F1 safety car and its impact on the following pack.

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The FIA statement comes in retaliation to comments on F1's safety car

The origins of the statement can be traced back to comments made by Max Verstappen, George Russell, and Charles Leclerc about the speed of the safety car in the Australian GP.

The drivers were not happy with the speed of the Aston Martin safety car, which is rumored to be 5 secs per lap slower than the Mercedes safety car. Over the race weekend, Max Verstappen had said:

“There’s so little grip and also the safety car was driving so slow, it was like a turtle. Unbelievable. To drive 140 [km/h] on the back straight, there was not a damaged car, so I don’t understand why we have to drive so slowly. We have to investigate. For sure the Mercedes safety car is faster because of the extra aero, because this Aston Martin is really slow.”

It does appear that the comments made by the reigning world champion about the performance of the F1 safety car sparked a response from the FIA.