Martin Brundle hopes to see the FIA review its rules surrounding drivers being able to change their tyres for ‘free’ during a red flag period.
Brundle admitted this would be a delicate balance to strike, given there would be obvious safety concerns if drivers were going around the track with a punctured tyre or otherwise, though he would welcome a review into how the rules were implemented.
The former Formula 1 driver cited the example of how George Russell was affected by the first red flag of the weekend at Albert Park, having pitted from the lead of the race under Safety Car conditions initially, dropping him to seventh on the road after Alex Albon crashed.
The FIA then decided the red flag should be shown when it became apparent gravel and debris was strewn across the track surface, with concerns around driver safety prompting the stoppage.
But for the likes of Russell, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz and others who had taken the opportunity to have a ‘cheap’ pit stop behind the Safety Car, the advantage they gained from that strategic move was wiped out when every driver was able to change tyres under the red flag stoppage.
Russell and Mercedes were understandably frustrated at this development, Toto Wolff coming onto Russell’s radio and saying they were “screwed” by the decision.
With that delay in the red flag counting against several drivers, Brundle hopes to see a compromise found in the way teams are able to operate on their cars under those conditions before a restart.
The Sky Sports analyst explained there could be “unintended consequences” to arise from banning teams changing tyres under a red flag, though acknowledged the annoyance that some fans feel at the rule.
“What ruined his race was his engine blowing up, what compromised his race was the team quite smartly pitted him under the Safety Car, and then it turned into that surprising red flag over Alex Albon’s Williams,” Brundle explained of Russell’s situation on Sky Sports News.
“What goes around comes around on these things. The purpose of being able to change your tyres is if there’s been a red flag, there’s almost always been an incident, debris, damage, you’re allowed to change the front wings, you’re allowed to change your cars as long as at the same specification parts.
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“And if you’ve got punctures or whatever, you’re allowed to change your tyres, if you run through debris, you might have a puncture. So at that point, it’s considered prudent to let everybody 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 they think it’s unfair that somebody gets effectively a free pit stop due to a red flag, they could even have caused the red flag and been involved in the incident and get a fresh set of tyres and a fresh 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’s a hugely complicated business and what are the unintended consequences of that? Will teams put the cars out with split tyres or slow punctures or what have you?
“So we really have to think that through before we change that, but clearly it does annoy people. But on another day, George Russell might benefit from it.”

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