A standing start after each safety car from 2015?

The ideas are not lacking in F1 when it comes to trying to improve, artificially or not, the show offered to spectators and viewers. Among these, the possibility of restarting a race neutralized by the safety car with a standing start seems to have gained traction.

Currently, and since the introduction of the safety car in F1 (initially in the 1970s and then more formally at the beginning of the 1990s), the procedure is simple: Article 40.3 of the Sporting Regulations states that the safety car intervenes in cases of immediate physical danger to competitors or officials, but when the circumstances are not such that it is necessary to stop the race.

Once on the track, this vehicle positions itself in front of the Grand Prix leader to set a slow pace and thus neutralize the race (overtaking is prohibited) until the course is fully secured, before pulling away to let the drivers battle it out.

However, this system, which provides an advantage to the leader since they can choose when to accelerate again, is considered not very spectacular by the masterminds of the premier category. The F1 Commission—a tripartite institution composed of representatives from the FIA, the commercial rights holders, and the teams—that met on Wednesday, June 18 in London, has thus submitted a proposal that each neutralization period be followed by a new standing start, according to Autosport.

The procedure would then be the same as for the actual start. The aim would obviously be to increase the drama of this moment by encouraging position changes, which are relatively rare during rolling starts.

This innovation, which could be introduced as early as 2015, still needs to be approved at the next World Motor Sport Council meeting, which will take place in Munich next week.

It is worth noting that, this season, the safety car has been deployed six times in seven races: once in Australia, once in Bahrain, twice in Monaco, and twice in Montreal.