The Valencia street circuit likened to Canada’s Ile Notre-Dame can present several challenges to drivers and cars. Especially when no team has ever raced on the track before.Several teams are considering just how the Safety Car might play a role in determining the outcome of this weekends upcoming race.
With Armco lining the street, as in Monaco, the quickness at which a stalled car can be removed from the track may just put a damper on the weekend. I could even skew the outcome as the current Safety Car rules penalize those drivers who pit while the Safety Car is deployed.
Autosport has an article concerning this issue and according to Mike Gascoyne and Mark Webber, the Safety Car is a very real issue. So much so that Force India is actively looking for its appearance and planning on capitalizing on the situation.
Mike Gascoyne:
“We may look at strategies that will put us out of sync with the others so we can take advantage of it.
“With strategy, you’ve got to see what the circuit is like and how the tyres perform, because that might dictate far more what we do. But it’s something we will factor into our race strategy.”
Mark Webber:
“Unfortunately these days, with the safety car rule that street races can sometimes be affected by, performance isn’t shown,” he told autosport.com. “But if you’re having a shit weekend it could help you.
“That’s the biggest concern going into these sort of races, that if you’re having a good weekend the safety car can completely screw you.
“Street races were always more vulnerable to safety cars, but with the rule we have now, all your efforts can be washed down the toilet.”
