FLOYD ON F1: Saudi race made a mockery of the sport

After watching last weekend’s F1 happenings at the new Jeddah circuit in Saudi Arabia, I must ask a few questions.

Firstly, who wrote the script for what appears to be another episode of Netflix’s Drive to Survive series, demonstrating the dangers within the sport of Formula 1? We saw several high-speed near misses, plus contact between cars and with the barriers around the 6.174 km street circuit.

Then, the enthralling moment in the third leg of qualifying when Max Verstappen, on an incredibly quick lap, touched the wall on the final corner and retired the Red Bull, handing pole position to rival Lewis Hamilton.

ALSO READ: Hamilton wins Saudi thriller; all set for title decider with Verstappen

On race day it was the time to question the legality of actions performed by competitors. Hamilton started with his report on Verstappen’s “practice start” in the pit lane.

Then there were questions regarding the need for red flagging the race after high-speed crashes, plus the legality of changing tyres in the pit lane during the red flag halt.

There was even a challenge about the need for that particular red flag as marshals carried out repairs to the damaged barriers, with safety their major priority.

Verstappen raised the issue of Hamilton being more than a 10-car distance behind him on the formation laps for the restarts, suggesting it cost him tyre temperature while waiting for the rest of the grid to form up.

There were issues of overtakes and the Dutchman handed back his “illegally” gained first place that resulted in a collision, as Hamilton ran into the back of the Red Bull.

Alpine’s Fernando Alonso correctly complained about track conditions due to the amount of debris, thanks to car-to-car contact.

Also, “kissing” those inflexible walls shredded some large bits of F1 technology, which lay in wait for the unwary.

Michael Masi, FIA race director, took on a new role as a negotiator. He began to, bizarrely, offer deals to Red Bull and Mercedes, I presume in an attempt to avoid penalties, as he tried to broker a deal for a restart grid.

He was heard to say this would avoid going to the stewards for a decision. It was almost as if the Australian was losing control of the situation as he attempted to placate everybody.

We were told the issue of the 10-car distance between competitors as they made their way to a restart did not apply, as it is not considered an “official” formation lap. Who was aware of that ruling? We are reaching a stage where each team will need to house a panel of lawyers, versed in such regulatory anomalies.

Verstappen received a five-second penalty for his overtake in the early stages and post race was handed a further 10 sec penalty for the collision with Hamilton. The stewards reviewed all the data and concluded Verstappen was “predominantly” to blame.

I believe the track design was such that it was an accident waiting to happen, which we evidenced over the weekend.
Further to this, the debacle of the race from the number of incidents and the ridiculous decisions offered and implemented made a mockery of F1.

To see the F1 drivers’ world championship standings, click here.