Vettel suggests software key to ‘unsafe’ restart issue

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel thinks a software system that resets laps on the timing screen is the solution to bring an end to unsafe unlapping procedures.

Last time out at Imola, a handful of drivers, including Vettel, were given permission to unlap themselves under a Safety Car period and re-join at the back of the queue.

However, the call was made while marshals were still on the track, with the FIA now evaluating the procedure which created a dangerous situation.

Vettel has suggested that one solution could be to reset the timing screen in order to avoid the need for those further down the standings to unlap themselves.

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“I think the reason why we are physically unlapping ourselves is we can’t work out a software that actually just resets us,” he said.

“I guess going forward we will just probably put some effort into a software that the lapped cars are not forced to physically unlap themselves.

“You can just reset the lap on the screen and put them on the place that they are, I think that would be the solution.

“As a consequence, in the past, you have people trying to catch the field, also in other categories, crashing, and that can’t be safe under a full yellow course, to go out and crash.

“Plus as you have seen in Imola people working on the track trying to do a favour for us, recovering the car that was stranded there, cleaning the track.

“We should just focus on the solution which I believe is purely software related and given that it is 2020 I think it should be possible.”

Racing Point’s Lance Stroll passed by particulary close to the marshals, but says he wasn’t informed that they were still located on the track.

“I hadn’t been warned of them, no,” Stroll said. “I was given the message that the lapped cars were allowed to overtake the Safety Car and catch the back of the train so I followed those instructions.

“I saw the marshal on the track, of course, and I immediately lifted off and backed off.

“I was as safe as I could be in that section of the track but I wasn’t warned and I wasn’t expecting to see anyone on the track once I got the message that I was allowed to overtake the Safety Car and catch the back of the train.

“Thankfully there was nothing bad that happened there but for sure we will have to address it and make sure something like that doesn’t happen again.”