(Mercedes AMG F1 Team)
Infiniti Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo has stated that he and his rivals are not in favor of the new standing restarts that will be introduced to Formula One from next season. The FIA confirmed last week that it would introduce standing restarts following safety car periods next season, however Ricciardo has criticized the decision to introduce this change for 2015. The Australian said:
'As of next year, I don't like the standing restarts. If I could, I'd take that out, We all pretty much disagreed as far as I am aware. I will let the veteran drivers speak their minds. I've said I don't think it is the best thing. We will see what other drivers say about it.'
Ricciardo went on to say:
'I don't want to go into it too much, but in a nutshell, if you are leading the race by 20 seconds, the safety car comes out and you lose that 20 seconds advantage, then what was looking like an easy victory is now questionable. That is already a big disadvantage for the leader who has worked hard to build up that gap. Now to then put him on the start, and anything can happen at the starts, not only an accident, but you get a poor start you can be from first to fourth before Turn 1. It seems harsh on the leader.'
Prior to the final decision to introduce the standing restarts it had been proposed that Formula One could introduce the IndyCar style rolling restarts where driver's run two by two as the pace car heads down pit road. This idea never materialized.
One of the major concerns raised by the driver's is the fact that tyre temperature's will have dropped significantly and this is a major safety risk, not just to the driver's but also to spectators and marshals as restarting the race on cold tyre's could result in tyre failures which would see the tyre carcass fly off a wheel and could potentially cause injury if it came off at high speed.
© Ben Johnston 2014
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