The Unfulfilled Potential of Restarts

Wreck, crash, incident... debris, track blockage... under caution, safety car period, yellow flag... restart, green green green, racing again...

From a fans point of view this scenario usually gives a motor race a new lease of life, closing the cars up, getting rid of all the gaps. This should create excitement by putting the key protagonists together and then letting them loose... unless you are watching an F1 race...

Prior to the safety car period Sebastian Vettel had a lead of roughly 2.5 seconds over his team mate Mark Webber. They traded fast lap times, battled through back markers until...Vitantonio Liuzzi crashed bringing out the aforementioned Mercedes SLS.

Suddenly the two Red Bull drivers are together, the nearly three second lead is now only two car lengths due to the two backmarkers sat in between the team mates... The cars come round on the last lap prior to the restart... The safety car disappears off into the distance... Vettel holds the field back... then he goes... as he approaches the last corner?!

Coming out of the last corner, with Vettel racing off into the distance, Webber is stuck behind the two backmarkers, unable to legally overtake them until he has crossed a line set by the officials, which is round by the pit lane entrance.

When they crossed the line to "restart" the race Vettel was 2.2 seconds ahead of Webber!!

After one lap Vettel was 3 seconds ahead!!

Another lap on and Vettels lead was 4.5 seconds!

So much for closing the race up!

I understand the logic behind the "overtake" line; giving the drivers a solid point on the track from where they can overtake, but letting the leader have a free reign on when he accelerates and leaves the field behind is counterproductive to good racing. In fact I would go so far as to say that Vettel jumped the restart. How can the leader take off before the last corner and cross the line 2.2 seconds ahead of second and not jump the restart??

If you are in second for a restart, as Webber was at the weekend, you may have to sit behind slower lapped cars, unable to overtake, while the leader gets away. I don't think Webber had enough pace to really challenge Vettel, but it would have been good to see him try, or at least get close enough to have the chance. Unfortunately the restart rules stopped him from getting close.

In NASCAR there are two lines on the track, and on a restart the leader must maintain a steady pace to the first line. It is then up to the leader when to accelerate, as long as it is between the two lines. If the leader has not accelerated at the second line, the rest of the pack can leave him standing. NASCAR also put the lapped cars to the rear of the field, so the front runners are together and can race cleanly come the green flag.

Formula 1 is not NASCAR, however Formula 1 is trying to promote and encourage better racing. Putting lapped cars to the rear of the field may be too "NASCAR" for F1, but having more control over the restarts has to be a good idea; if you care about "racing".

On a different topic I thought it was interesting to hear Martin Brundle squirm when the subject of "team orders" was raised mid race on Sunday. In simple terms his answer was based on the premise that the FIA have allowed team orders, at the end of the year, in the past so team orders should be allowed now. Jonathan Legards response, "but team orders are banned"...

As long as people in F1 keep using the past as an excuse then things will never change. Will the regulation still be in place in 2011?? Who knows... if you want good racing in F1 enforce the team order regulation, and sort the restarts... and... and...