15/03/2022
NEWS STORY
In the wake of the Abu Dhabi debacle the FIA has made a subtle change to the Sporting Regulations relating to lapped cars should the Safety Car be deployed.
In rejecting Mercedes protest last December, the Abu Dhabi stewards admitted that "Article 48.12 may not have been applied fully".
Article 48.12 of the 2021 Sporting regulations read: "If the clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message 'LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE' has been sent to all Competitors via the official messaging system, any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car.
"This will only apply to cars that were lapped at the time they crossed the Line at the end of the lap during which they crossed the first Safety Car line for the second time after the safety car was deployed."
However, the latest version of the regulations, issued today sees Article 55.13 state that: "If the clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message 'LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE' has been sent to all Competitors using the official messaging system, all cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car".
It was the ambiguity of the word 'any' that was at the centre of the storm, race director, Michael Masi having allowed only those five cars separating race leader Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to pass the Safety Car and un-lap themselves rather than all the cars that had been lapped.
It was the 'removal' of those five cars that gave the Dutchman a clear run on his rival when the race finally resumed with just one lap remaining.