FIA Introduces Safety Car Rule Amendment

FIA has just announced that following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris today it has decided to introduce a new amendment to the safety car speed limit rule. In just a few words, cars were forced in the last season to keep a certain slow speed once the safety car entered the track, even if they were far away from the rest of the field. The speed limit lasted for only one lap but, following the new tweaks, the restriction has been increase to two laps.

"The safety car speed limit (an approximate 40% decrease in lap time) will now be enforced over two laps instead of one," FIA said in a press release posted on its official website.

Of course, some could says that this isn't quite good news, especially because some drivers might not have the chance to catch up with the other drivers once the safety car enters the track. But FIA has a pretty good explanation for this:

"The purpose is to ensure that cars are driven at a safe speed until they reach the safety car."

And more, cars that could benefit from the safety car by entering the pits while the safety car is out will no longer have an advantage, FIA says.

"During a safety car period the pit exit light will remain green for the duration, unless the race is subsequently suspended," read the FIA statement. "Other than when the safety car has been asked to use the pitlane, no car may enter the pits while the safety car is deployed unless it is for the purpose of changing tyres."