Wolff on prolonged red flags: 'Fans want to see the cars'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
The first day at Zandvoort did not go entirely smoothly. During the first free practice, there was a long red flag because Sebastian Vettel's Aston Martin came to a standstill on the track and couldn't be removed immediately. Also during the second free practice there were several red flags.
Toto Wolff says he's not a fan of the clock that keeps on ticking during free practice. Where during a race the time is stopped at a red flag, during practice it just keeps on ticking.
During the first free practice at Zandvoort the drivers lost 37 minutes of track time because of Vettel's stopped car. Wolff proposes a change in the Formula 1 rules.
Time during practice is precious
"Just like in Spa, we have to find another way here. Because the practice sessions are so short, only sixty minutes. The clock has to be stopped, so the fans can see the cars", Wolff is quoted on Motorsport-Total.com. The remaining 23 minutes were too little for the drivers and teams according to Wolff, but especially for the fans who had to miss all the action.
"It affects everyone equally. You just have less time available", Wolff said. "But we learned one lesson: it will probably be very difficult in qualifying with the traffic. That's something we have to discuss."