Domenicali said F1 must fix its red flag tyre change loophole. Why hasn’t it? · RaceFans

With the most recent October meeting of the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council, Formula 1’s rule makers have published their latest draft of the sporting regulations that will govern the 2025 edition of the world championship.

Although the WMSC appears to have responded to recent controversy over the fastest lap bonus point by removing it entirely from the rulebook for next season, there’s one area of the regulations that has remained noticeably untouched: the rule that allows drivers to change tyres under a red flag.

Despite existing in the regulations for decades, the freedom of teams to change tyres when races are suspended has been a contentious one among drivers and fans over the years. The 2011 Monaco Grand Prix was one of the first times the rule faced serious criticism.

The final act of that race was shaping up to be a tense and thrilling conclusion to rival that of the famous 1992 finish between Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell. With under 20 laps remaining, Sebastian Vettel – who had assumed the lead from Jenson Button by staying out under a mid-race Safety Car – was leading the race on tyres nearing 50 laps old.

But behind him, Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari had closed within DRS range having pitted under the Safety Car, while Jenson Button was closing on the pair of them after making a second stop under green flag conditions.

With 15 laps remaining, the top three were covered by less than a second. Vettel was clearly struggling, with his tyres visibly in a poor condition and having to defend from Alonso into Sainte Devote with every lap. The final laps of the race promised to be intense.

Then a multi-car collision involving Lewis Hamilton, Adrian Sutil, Vitaly Petrov and Jaime Alguersuari at the Swimming Pool section brought out the red flags. The race was ultimately restarted, but due to the freedom allowed under the regulations, Red Bull were able to fit new tyres onto Vettel’s race-leading car.

At a stroke, the tension evaporated. Vettel easily held off Alonso and Button at the restart to take his fifth win in the first six races – much to the frustration of fans who had been looking forward to an epic finish.

At the time, even BBC commentators Martin Brundle and David Coulthard had been caught by surprise that the regulations allowed Red Bull to change their tyres under red flag. A major rule change introduced for the 2007 season compelled every driver to run both compounds of…