Do late-race standing restarts belong in F1? · RaceFans

After flirting with the idea of restarting suspended grands prix with a standing start on the grid in 2014, the FIA finally introduced standing restarts into F1’s sporting regulations midway through the 2018 season.

However, it was not until the Italian Grand Prix of 2020 in which the system was used for the first time, with the remaining field taking to the grid for the race to resume after Charles Leclerc’s heavy accident at Parabolica.

Since the system was introduced, races suspended by red flags outside of the opening two laps have been resumed with standing grid restarts a total of eight times – including twice in the final five laps of the scheduled race distance.

The last grand prix in Australia just two weeks ago was only the second race after the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix to feature three grid starts in the same race after two red flags – one after Alexander Albon’s lap seven crash which littered the circuit with debris and damaged the barrier and the second after Kevin Magnussen’s single-car accident with less than five laps remaining.

Currently, F1’s sporting regulations outlines in Article 58.11 that red flagged races will be resumed with a standing start from the grid “if track conditions are considered suitable to resume… from a standing start”. Article 58.12 specifies that rolling starts behind the Safety Car will only be used when “track conditions are considered unsuitable”.

This means that even when there are only two racing laps remaining until the chequered flag, a race suspended in the later stages by a red flag will resume from the grid – as was the case in the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the most recent round in Australia.

But is it right for standing starts from the grid to be the normal procedure for restarting a grand prix interrupted by a red flag? Or should the rules change to limit their use to specific times during a race?

In the late nineties and early 2000s, races were rarely suspended by red flags outside of major opening lap crashes – which were restarted from the grid as if the grand prix was starting anew, minus any drivers unable to continue. Then the rules were changed, meaning that only the initial race start would be a standing start on the grid, with any restarts being rolling restarts behind the Safety Car, even if the red flag was flown on the opening lap.

Standing restarts are inherently more competitive by their nature. Drivers start…