HOCKENHEIM, Germany -- The Strategy Group has proposed a rethink of F1's start procedures to ensure wet conditions do not lead to races starting behind the Safety Car.
After a downpour ahead of the start of the British Grand Prix, several drivers complained about the decision from Race Control to start the race behind the Safety Car rather than allow a standing start from the grid. For the future, a compromise has been found whereby cars will complete laps behind the Safety Car to help the track dry before starting the race from the grid to provide the excitement of a standing start.
The decision was made at a meeting of F1's Strategy Group on Thursday alongside an agreement to prevent teams working on cars under red flag periods in races. Under the current regulations the teams are allowed to make changes to cars, including tyre changes, when they are brought to a halt in the pit lane under a red flag, but in the future no work will be allowed to be conducted on cars.
The changes still need to be approved by the F1 Commission and rubber-stamped by the World Motor Sport Council, but FIA race director Charlie Whiting is confident they will get approval for next year.
The controversial issue of track limits was also discussed by the Strategy Group after the last three rounds of the 2016 season have seen the FIA clamp down on drivers attempting to gain an advantage by exiting corners with all four wheels off track. Some members of the Strategy Group proposed getting rid of track limits rules altogether, but the FIA's Charlie Whiting said it was voted down on safety grounds.
"It was proposed by some that we should take a completely relaxed view on track limits but I felt that was inappropriate and I think we should carry on doing what we do," Whiting said. "My principal aim has always been to get the track to enforce the track limits, if you see what I mean. I think by and large we have done that, but there are certain corners on certain tracks that do present us with little problems but we are getting rid of them one by one.
"Here [in Germany] we have a similar position to Hungary -- Turns 4 and 11 in Hungary -- Turn 1 here appears to be a similar sort of thing, with 93 cars going across there today. So we have to think carefully about what to do for tomorrow. The difficulty of allowing complete freedom and letting them go very wide there and no longer taking any notice of it, is that simply there would be a different track fundamentally and it would be faster and there would be less run-off area - so we couldn't possibly contemplate it."