FIA to reassess rule that penalised Michael Schumacher
20th May 2010
Formula 1's governing body has admitted there was a "lack of clarity" in the safety car rule under which Michael Schumacher was penalised at Monaco. The German was demoted from sixth to 12th after being found guilty of illegally overtaking Fernando Alonso's Ferrari on the final lap.
But a statement from the FIA said it needed to "adjust" the rules governing safety-car procedure on the last lap.
Schumacher's Mercedes team decided not to lodge an appeal against the penalty.
The team had initially said they would lodge an appeal after the stewards found Schumacher guilty of breaking article 40. 13 of the sporting regulations.
This was designed to cover procedure surrounding the race ending when the safety car is deployed.
It reads: "If the race ends while the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking. "
Mercedes, and some other teams, argue that the rule is confusing, claiming that in Monaco the race did not end under the safety car because it had pulled in to the pits and green flags had been shown to the drivers.
The view of the FIA race director Charlie Whiting was that rule was clear because it could only apply under similar circumstances to those in Monaco.
But the FIA has now admitted that it was possible to interpret it in a different way.
F1's sporting working group has now been charged with coming up with a clearer wording, which will be submitted to the FIA World Council, which rubber-stamps rules, at its next meeting on 23 June.
An FIA statement said: "The problems identified during the final lap of the Monaco Grand Prix showed a lack of clarity in the application of the rule prohibiting overtaking behind the safety car.
"Adjustments to the regulations are necessary to clarify the procedure that cars must meet when the last lap is controlled by the safety car whilst also ensuring that the signalling for teams and drivers is made more clear.
"These adjustments will help to avoid the problem which occurred during the Monaco Grand Prix from happening in the future. "
Source: BBC News & Sports - Monaco
