Schumacher feels FIA should be ‘ashamed’ in attack over Aus GP call

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Ralf Schumacher has slammed the FIA’s decision for a second standing restart in the latter stages of the Australian Grand Prix, labelling it a ‘bad joke’. Red flag drama threw the Melbourne race into chaos, and the former F1 driver believes a Safety Car could’ve helped avoid the late carnage that saw several cars crash out.

Alex Albon crashed into the wall early on, spraying gravel onto the track en masse to prompt the first red flag of the race.

But the second, prompted by Kevin Magnussen losing control on the exit of Turn 2, caused the most controversy.

His crash, on the 54th lap of 58, left significant debris on the track, leading to the FIA changing a Safety Car to a second red flag.

And the resulting standing start forced a third red flag as Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Nyck de Vries and Logan Sargent retired due to multiple cars jostling for position so late in the race.

Schumacher has pointed to the first chicane in Melbourne being ‘very fast’, suggesting such a late restart was asking for trouble.

He told Sport1.de: “Rules are one thing, foresight is another. They could have used a safety car to avoid chaos.

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“In Australia, you can expect chaos on a restart this late in the Grand Prix. The first chicane is very fast.

“Everyone wants to improve their position and go for dangerous moves in the first corner due to too much motivation. I know what I’m talking about. Race management should be ashamed.

“You can’t ask the driver to slow down if you give them another chance like this. I’m sorry because this is a really bad joke.”

Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle agrees that the first red flag could be deemed ‘unnecessary’ but defended the FIA, insisting their decisions are based on driver and spectator safety, not fun.

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

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“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’.”

He added: “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.

“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’.”

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