What is "Safety Car Line One"??

So Monaco was the usual combination of a grand event, but dull race. To be fair the narrow confines of Monte Carlo don't exactly lend themselves to great overtaking opportunities, but Moncao, even to someone who isn't the greatest F1 fan, is still a great "event".

Unusually for F1 the race finished, and I am choosing my words carefully here, under safety car conditions, OK maybe not so carefully...

Logic, and standard racing rules from Karting up and across to NASCAR, would suggest that on a restart the start / finish line is the point at which the race restarts. Firstly this is due to the line being a fixed point which everybody can see and relate to and secondly it is where the green flag or light is located to signal the restart. It is not hard to understand that one lap ends under "yellow" while another starts under "green". I could understand if a line on the track was designated a "restart line" as in NASCAR, where the drivers can accelerate from the line but must stay single file until they cross the start / finish line. To me this is all fairly easy, and again is a standard procedure from the lowest levels of racing upwards... unless you are the FIA and F1...

So its the last lap at Monaco and as per the regs the safety car comes into the pit lane to enable the cars to  cross the finish line on their own. Trouble is race control put "Safety Car in this lap" and "Track Clear" on the timing screens, while the marshals posted after "Safety Car Line One" had green lights and flags displayed.

Confused yet??

On this basis most of the teams told their drivers to race to the line and Schumacher gained a position. Had the drivers not been on the last lap Schumachers actions would have been legal, which on its own is beyond belief, but it was the last lap... 

F1 regs say, "If the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking" and Schumacher is given a 20 second penalty in-lieu of a drive through.

Questions...

• Why do the F1 powers that be make life so complicated for no apparent reason? - if it's not broken...
• Why introduce a different line from which the drivers can race and overtake from when the start / finish line is already there and is a pretty clear cut procedure to me? - if it's not broken don't...
• Why bring the safety car in on the last lap but still have the race finish under safety car conditions, with no safety car? - just keep the safety car out and everybody would understand exactly was going on... - if it's not broken don't fix... 
• I understand it was the first time this scenario had occurred but why didn't race control have a clear set of procedures in place and ensure that all teams are aware of the procedure? - it wasn't broken don't fix it...
• Is there a "Safety Car Line Two"??
• What is "Safety Car Line One"??

NASCAR Tracks with Character

Richmond... Darlington... Dover...

After the occasionally monotonous run of 1.5 mile cookie cutter tracks, Richmond, Darlington, and Dover are a breath of fresh air. Each track is individual and produces different styles of racing. A short track like no other, a historic venue with uneven turns and a narrow slick track, and a concrete high banked bullring. 


Richmond produced a race dominated by one man, Kyle Busch. After 'Dega's last lap, last several hundred metres overtaking move, Kyle made the D-shaped short track look easy! There was still some good racing through the field though and another G-W-C with the 24 again coming up short... again...

Darlington is one hell of a place. Over the years it has been totally revamped, they swapped the front and back straights around and even resurfaced the track, but it is still "The Track Too Tough To Tame!!" To be fair Denny Hamlin did a good job trying... and once again the 24 came up short... again...

If I could go to one Cup race I reckon Darlington would be high up on my list (with Bristol) of races to see. The history, the narrow track, the odd turns, the slick surface, the sun going down, all add up to a race set deep in old-school NASCAR country, in which the drivers sit up and work the wheel, earning their pay cheques in every turn. The Southern 500 is a race where the drivers race the track for the first 400 and then each other at the end... It's a shame Darlington only has one race!

Up next is the Monster Mile. The last few Dover races have been some of the best that that season had to offer so it should be a good one!!
 
Stories of the moment... McMurray and Montoya more on the pace than off... Harvick leading the points standings, great to see RCR back up top... Stewart not even close, Ryan not quite there but not too far off... Stewart loses Old Spice sponsorship, probably to a driver who shaves?!?... JJ has 3 off weeks, shame the chase hasn't started yet... Earnhardt Jnr finally has run of great finishes, just kidding... spoiler mandated by NASCAR produces non-stop good racing...drivers complain that hitting the wall at Darlington could move the rear spoiler, "Doctor it hurts if I do this, well don't do it then"... All Star Race coming up should be good!!


 On a different note, F1... Good to see Schumacher now has a car he can work with, feel sorry for Hamilton but that's racing, surprise surprise the teams have decided to ban the F-duct from next year, watched the latest Grand Prix on Sky+ at 6 times speed... and was still bored! F1 back to normal then...