Teams to blame for Monza safety car fizzer

Sep.19 (GMM) Formula 1 teams shouldn’t be pointing the finger at the governing FIA for the way in which the recent Italian GP at Monza ended, according to Andreas Seidl.

F1 fans but also many prominent personalities of the sport, including Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto, blasted the FIA for ending the race behind a protracted safety car period.

But McLaren boss Seidl says the FIA actually isn’t to blame.

“In the end, race control simply applied the rules that exist, and that’s right,” he told RTL.

The German said the incident is a side-effect of the highly controversial finale to the 2021 world championship in Abu Dhabi, where the end of the final safety car was rushed by the later-axed race director Michael Masi.

“I think we should remember that after the events in Abu Dhabi there was a lot of discussion between the FIA, Formula 1 and all the teams involved to see how the rules can be changed to ensure races never end under a safety car, for example,” Seidl said.

“But although the FIA and Formula 1 really pushed us all to find solutions, it was up to us as teams. And pretty much all the teams didn’t agree to any change because we couldn’t agree on a better solution that is also sportingly fair.

“That’s why I think we just have to accept that unfortunately situations like this can happen,” the McLaren team principal said.

“In the end we voted for the rules to stay as they are – and as far as I can remember every single team voted that way. That’s why I think we should close the issue.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who was particularly aggrieved about Abu Dhabi because it cost Lewis Hamilton his eighth title, agrees that the FIA simply followed the rules properly at Monza.

However, he says Formula 1 should now consider a rule change.

“We have to put our heads together at the end of the season and discuss such scenarios,” said the Austrian.

“If we change this rule, I will immediately raise my hand and vote for it.”