If the race in Azerbaijan showed us anything, it’s that the restart procedure in Formula One may be in need of a few tweaks. I think I have found the solution to the Formula One restarts, or rather I think that NASCAR has the solution.
It’s not very often that you see NASCAR and Formula One compared, seeing as they are two radically different forms of motorsport: one sport races affordable closed cockpit stock cars around ovals in America, while the other sport races expensive open wheel technically advanced monsters around circuits of all shapes and sized around the globe. The difference really is night and day.
In order to find the solution, we must first outline the problems with the restart procedure in Formula One. The primary issue is that Formula One doesn’t have any set point at which the leader is supposed to start accelerating, making it all up to the drivers to judge and creating a few problems.
The first we saw in Azerbaijan, when Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton tangled on the restart. Telemetry showed that Hamilton didn’t brake-test the Ferrari driver, although some believed that he did. However, others believe that Vettel was anticipating when the Mercedes driver would accelerate and guessed wrong. This is an entirely valid theory. So when you don’t control where the drivers are supposed to accelerate, then you have the possibility that drivers will get together.
Another issue that’s present is much more common: the leader creates a large gap to the cars behind. When you have one driver deciding when they will start going fast, the second place driver will never start going at the same time because they need to have the time to react to what the leader is doing. This makes for restarts that are not as close.
That’s why I like what NASCAR does. NASCAR has a sort of “controlled chaos” at the restart. They introduced a system called the Restart Zone. Basically, it’s a 100ft zone located before the start/finish line, which outlines where the leading driver may begin to accelerate to racing pace. Once the leader enters the restart zone, they may begin to accelerate during any point within that zone. When the leader starts going, the other drivers can do so as well.
The whole point of the Restart Zone is that it takes some of the guesswork out of the restarts and creates a bit more organization to the procedure and ultimately makes for better restarts. The restart zone is located after the pit entrance, meaning that the drivers don’t have to worry about overtaking the safety car by starting too early.
This system would work perfectly in Formula One and I think it would improve the thrilling of the race restarts and prevent the controversy that we saw in Azerbaijan.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company. Assumptions made in any analysis contained within this article are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the author.
