Footage made available to social media from George Russell's onboard during his penultimate lap crash at the Australian Grand Prix revealed a harrowing team radio call.
The panic in his voice as he called for a red flag whilst he was stranded, car on its side in the middle of the racing line was enough to drive home the perils of motorsport - danger is always present.
Yet despite the pleas, FIA race control opted to allow the end of the race to run under Virtual Safety Car conditions, a decision that quite frankly felt callous given severe incidents in the not-too-distant past.
Whilst the consensus in the paddock indicates race control did little wrong, a car strewn across the track is one of the most dangerous situations in single-seater racing.
Two young drivers - Anthoine Hubert and Dilano van 't Hoff - have lost their lives through side-on collisions since 2019 despite the continued research and advancements in safety in modern-day racing, work for which the FIA must rightly be given an incredible amount of praise.
Russell was arguably in a more dangerous spot given the exposed underbody of the W15 was facing the oncoming traffic, rendering any collision extremely serious.
Race winner Carlos Sainz had already crossed the start-finish line to begin his final lap, so whether a red flag, full safety car or VSC was deployed made zero sporting difference in this case.
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It meant there was no need to restart the race, and there would be no free pit stops for others to gain advantages. Safety should have been the primary concern.
The audio of Grand Prix Drivers' Association director Russell's team radio in the immediate aftermath makes for hard listening. There is a tinge of disbelief hidden amid the anxiety as he calls repeatedly for a race stoppage - one that never came.
As it turned out, and there but for the grace of God, Russell escaped unscathed and all drivers respected the yellow flags at the scene of the incident.
But it only takes one misstep for disaster in F1 and the sport should count itself lucky nothing more serious happened at Albert Park.
Many fans will also point to the red flags thrown for a similarly positioned Williams of Alex Albon a year previously, albeit the Thai-Briton was not on his side. Where is the consistency in the decision-making?
There will no doubt be conversations about the issue in the next drivers' briefing at the Japanese Grand Prix so that assurances can be made for future instances.
Processes must be reviewed because this was undoubtedly an error of judgement.
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Brum
I’m sure he felt unsafe lying in the middle of the track. But he is smart enough to think about trying to push for a red flag to ensure the race would have ended during a red flag situation. This would mean that the race result would be like how the order was in the lap before the red flag meaning he still would have got points. I think this was 20% stress and 80% tactics.
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mike-aaron#24852
This was all about getting points nothing to do with safety he's tried before and failed. The flags were out the virtual safety car out and medical car. Out he was passed. At. Relatively slow speed. I think he fell asleep at the wheel he turned abrubtley left when he could of gone upside the inside of alonso to avoid the crash Penalty on alonso hard and should be appealed
MarcusL
Please explain to me how a Formula 1 car crashed and immobilized, situated across the middle of the track, isn't an instant red flag condition. I'm very curious as to why commenters here think a red flag wasn't appropriate. Don't downvote me without a decent explanation.
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Brum
Because the winner already passed the finish line. Don’t let Russel fool you, he tries these kind of things all the time. Every misstep from an other driver is mentioned by him, everything he says over the radio is calculated tactics. Alonso also went immediately in excuse mode over the radio, saying there was something with his throttle as soon Russel crashed.
MarcusL
I didn't see an explanation in your biased political post. I still don't know why it's okay for track workers and safety workers to populate a live track with Formula 1 cars circulating. Apparently, you agree that a red flag should have come out as soon as a crashed car lies in the middle of the track.
Brum
How is a red flag safer in this situation than doubled waved yellow? Again, winner was already flagged, it seems you are biased here…
MarcusL
How can a crashed car, stopped in the middle of a Formula 1 racetrack, not instantly cause a red flag? If not for this, then when would a red flag come out? Why have red flags at all?
samagon
first you need to understand when a red flag is appropriate. when there is a serious enough accident, or unsafe conditions due to situations like poor weather, or track malfunction. nothing about what happened met those guidelines for a red flag, but I guess it depends on what you would consider to be 'serious enough' for the accident. and anyway, for a red flag, it's not like cars just stop dead on the track and then wait for the track to be clear before going to the pits. any car that has already passed the pit entry still has to trundle around the track and pass this situation anyway. I don't have telemetry to see what cars were between pit entry and this incident, but there was a fair number of cars that had to pass this anyway. so what is it you're trying to suggest anyway?
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MarcusL
Are you actually saying that a red flag isn't appropriate when a Formula 1 car is on its side laying across the track? Really? Are you saying that a car in that situation can be removed without track workers and specialized equipment? Enlighten me as to how to remove a car in that situation without people and equipment. I've never see it done before, but I've only been a fan for 30 years. I'm open to learn something new.
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samagon
it won't let me reply to you in line, so allow me to respond to your comments: you are completely ignoring the facts of the situation. the last lap had just started. under a VSC or a red flag any cars still on track need to make their way around the track. so you are saying, red flag the race, the drivers still on track go by the wreck to get to the pit lane. VSC to complete the final lap, the drivers on track go by the wreck to finish the race. what is the difference?????? tell me. I implore you, rather than just going off about safety workers, or whatever that as soon as that lead car crosses the line, the race is over anyway. now, that being said, race control should have disallowed the cooldown lap, and hopefully they use this situation as a chance to adjust the rules to create such a situation to have the drivers pull to a stop, or drive into the pit lane reverse.
Paul_SL
At the instant of an incident, what ever the call be it yellow, VSC or red flag, four things happen. Dashboards light up light Christmas trees in all cockpits. Digital boards around the circuit light up, physical flags are thrown and audio messages are transmitted from the teams on the wall. Georges 'distress' call was at the tail end of all four of those sequences. He knew exactly what he was doing.
PeterM
Does that mean a red flag shouldn't be used whenever a car is crashed in the middle of the race track? If it's not used for that, we don't need a red flag ever.
Paul_SL
No. I didn't say that, read what I wrote. I don't care what color flag is thrown, George's panic call was too late to change anything that 'could' have happened except put the order back one lap. That's a fact.
PeterM
So you're saying that a red flag should have been used as soon as the car ended up in the middle of the track? Good! I agree.