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Pothunter 3 Jun 1:19pm, 3 Jun 2025 10,455 posts	Quote Pin Pothunter The thing about SC that I can’t get my head around is why lapped cars can’t just drop to the back of the train. Would save a couple of laps when the track is clear but everyone still pootling around.
larkim 3 Jun 1:26pm, 3 Jun 2025 27,485 posts	Quote Pin larkim Agreed; having a race director instruction that (say) on the main straight all lapped cars should move right and allow the cars ahead of them to pass before rejoining in order behind the SC train would make sense. Perhaps with a second location on the track also nominated in case the incident requiring the SC is on the main straight. Lewis was right on Sunday, they did take a long time to get back underway given the simplicity of resolving the actual incident.
HappyG(rrr) 3 Jun 1:42pm, 3 Jun 2025 52,946 posts	Quote Pin HappyG(rrr) I was only watching C4 highlights, so they compress any red flag or long SC restarts. How many laps was it - 5 or 6? G
Akie 3 Jun 1:47pm, 3 Jun 2025 1,937 posts	Quote Pin Akie Pothunter wrote:The thing about SC that I can’t get my head around is why lapped cars can’t just drop to the back of the train. Would save a couple of laps when the track is clear but everyone still pootling around. I think the FIA have said its an issue with the transponders.
Pothunter 3 Jun 3:00pm, 3 Jun 2025 10,457 posts	Quote Pin Pothunter Given the technical complexity of the cars and all the data that goes back to the pit wall I suspect someone could overcome that in 10 mins if there was a desire for it to happen
DaveG 3 Jun 5:29pm, 3 Jun 2025 594 posts	Quote Pin DaveG The cars have to do the same number of laps for fuel/tyre reasons, so they have to unlap themselves. When there are no marshals on track, I don't know why they can't let them unlap while the incident is being addressed. They just need to stay together and go at safety car speed through the section with the incident, but can drive fast on the other 90% of the lap with no troubles. Obviously that wouldn't work with debris on track, but in cases like Sunday it would have got them racing quicker. Driving behind the safety car isn't safer than driving at the same speed without it
larkim 3 Jun 9:39pm, 3 Jun 2025 27,487 posts	Quote Pin larkim But they don't need to do the same number of laps really do they? I.e. if they are lapped under race conditions they do fewer laps. But I suppose if they dropped back they would be being lapped by other cars that hadn't earned the lapping.
DaveG 4 Jun 12:02pm, 4 Jun 2025 595 posts	Quote Pin DaveG They introduced unlapping to keep integrity across the race, not just the leaders. Imagine 6th is 2 seconds ahead of 7th. 7th has done their final pit-stop, but 6th isn't. In real terms, this means 7th will finish ahead of 6th. However, if the leader laps 7th but the SC is called before they lap 6th, that 2 second gap become a 1 lap gap. So suddenly 7th has no ability to finish above 6th, despite being on course to do so. If you let the leaders overtake the lapped cars so it's the natural order, then you restart in order, but with a full lap gap between 6th and 7th. If you let the leaders overtake to preserve order and consider everyone on the same lap, then they on the same lap but with 7th having an extra lap of fuel (might be good, might be bad, but isn't equivalent). So the fairest solution is to let the lapped cars go around on their own, so they join the queue and the gaps (and performance) to the cars around them remains the same. They do this after a red flag so the cars restart on the same basis.
larkim 4 Jun 12:46pm, 4 Jun 2025 27,489 posts	Quote Pin larkim Brilliantly explained, thanks Dave. That makes a whole heap of sense. In the end, SCs are inherently unfair and random in the way they affect race positions. The more normal unfairness is the opposite of your scenario, where "free" pitstops benefit some drivers and not others. In terms of Sunday's race, we were fortunate that because everyone had already taken their final pitstops the ability of the SC to undermine the previous 50+ laps was reduced (though Max could have at least tried).

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Thread for those who like their racing long, predictable but strangely addictive. And generally fossil fuelled.

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