MELBOURNE : After a dramatic Australian Grand Prix laden with crashes and red flags, Formula One takes a three-week break from racing but debate over the balance between safety and entertainment may rage through to the next stop in Baku.
Several of the F1 teams will be busy during the break as they count the cost of cars wrecked in Australia and scramble to secure spare parts. Stewards had hoped racing would decide the winner but the carnage only served to trigger a third red flag and a processional win behind a safety car for Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Michael Masi was replaced as race director after his decision to tweak the safety car rules late in the race, which helped Verstappen win his first championship and denied Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton a record eighth. The application of standing restarts from the grid versus relatively safe rolling restarts is also under the microscope."Standing starts are the most vulnerable part of any grand prix and we did three of them," said Red Bull boss Christian Horner.After lining up parts for Baku, Alpine's Szafnauer might want to keep his suppliers on call.