Australian Grand Prix: Martin Brundle defends FIA over red flags | ‘Not about more fun’

Martin Brundle does not believe the FIA called for red flags to ‘whizz up more fun’

Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle has defended the FIA over the officiating of the Australian Grand Prix, insisting a late red flag was not motivated by a desire to create “more fun”. 

The first two of Sunday’s three red flags in Melbourne were disputed, but the second, which was caused by Kevin Magnussen hitting the wall after losing control on the exit of Turn 2, created the most drama.

With the incident happening on the 54th circuit of the 58-lap contest, a Safety Car was sent out with significant debris, including a wheel rim from Magnussen’s Haas, on the track.

It was initially unclear whether the track would be cleared in time for competitive racing to resume before the chequered flag, but a red flag was thrown, setting up a theoretical two-lap sprint to the end from a standing start.

This decision caused great debate because it eradicated advantages drivers had worked to build up during the race, most significantly Max Verstappen’s eight-second lead over Lewis Hamilton, while the resulting standing start led to a series of collisions that saw four cars retire and Carlos Sainz ultimately drop out of the points.

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Fernando Alonso is tagged by Carlos Sainz which causes a long line of accidents at the second race restart and brings out yet another red flag!

Despite the controversy, Brundle does not believe the FIA threw the red flag to “whizz up” more fun, but primarily for the safety of the drivers and fans in attendance.

“Absolutely not. I don’t think there was any instruction to whizz this show up when required,” said Brundle.

“You have to walk a mile in the shoes of the people who are responsible.

“It is easy for us to sit on the sidelines going ‘should have done this, should have done that’.

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Haas thought Kevin Magnussen suffered a wheel puncture after the Danish driver completely lost his right rear tyre after clipping the wall

“Back in 2009, Felipe Massa nearly died with a piece of someone else’s car coming through his cockpit.

“It is also a street circuit there with a lot of fans either side of the track and also marshals and medics that are down there.

“So, if there are pieces of debris on the track, you can’t have them flying through the air at a couple hundred miles per hour.

“I thought when Alex Albon went off they could perhaps have just used a Safety Car and swept the gravel up and cleared the car away.

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Alex Albon crashes out of the race and brings out the red flag at the Australian Grand Prix

“A red flag perhaps seemed slightly unnecessary but towards the end of the race, we had a tyre and wheel on the track and lots of debris.

“I am absolutely confident no one is in there going ‘hey, let’s make this a little bit more fun’.

“Whether we are making crystal-clear decisions in the pressure of the moment, obviously we lost Charlie Whiting in Melbourne where he died sadly, then we went through the Michael Masi phase which everybody knows about, especially Abu Dhabi 2021.

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Highlights of the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit

“Then they shared the role, now we have a guy called Niels Wittich.

“Is he making the right decisions? But at the end of the day, we are sitting here on a Monday morning and we are not one per cent responsible if somebody was killed or injured.”

Tyre changes under red flags needs ‘review’

While Brundle believes the FIA is making decisions for safety, he does think there should be a review of free tyre changes under red flags after George Russell’s race was compromised by the red flag thrown after Albon’s crash on the exit of Turn 7.

Although Russell’s race was eventually ended prematurely by an engine fire, he first lost out from the decision to stop under the Safety Car following Albon’s crash, with Mercedes not anticipating a red flag would follow.

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George Russell’s car sets on fire and he is out of the race with a power unit issue!

The red flag saw the race stopped, and gave new leader Hamilton, and Verstappen behind him, the chance to change their tyres and keep their position, while Russell dropped down to seventh.

For Brundle, it is a situation where “what goes around comes around”, but he understands that it can be viewed as “unfair” by fans watching at home.

“What ruined his race was his engine blowing up, what compromised his race was the team quite smartly pitted him under the Safety Car then it turned into that surprising red flag over Alex Albon’s Williams,” said Brundle.

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Mercedes’ Russell felt that he could have won the race if he did not have to retire from the Australian Grand Prix following a car fire

“What goes around comes around on these things.

“The purpose of being able to change your tyres under a red flag is there has almost always been an incident, debris, damage, you are allowed to change your front wings, and if you have got punctures or whatever, you are allowed to change your tyres.

“At that point, it is considered prudent to allow every team to put a fresh set of tyres on.

“Now it does affect the race dramatically and we have to take into consideration that fans see that often and think it is unfair that somebody effectively gets a free pit stop due to a red flag.

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Magnussen clips the wall and completely loses his right rear tyre which brings out the second red flag of the race!

“They could have even caused the red flag and been involved in the incident and get a fresh set of tyres and front wing for example.

“But, as I said, sometimes that plays into your hands, sometimes it doesn’t.

“I think we need to review that but as always in Formula 1, it is a hugely-complicated business and the unintended consequences of that.

“We really have to think that through before we change that because it really does annoy people, but, on another day, George Russell might benefit from it.”

What’s next?

Due to the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix, there is now a four-week break until the 2023 Formula 1 season resumes with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku’s stunning street circuit.

The action is all live on Sky Sports F1 from April 28-30, with Sunday’s race at 12pm.

Between now and then, we will be bringing you all the latest F1 news via the Sky Sports app and website.