History was made at the recent Singapore GP; it was the first time no safety cars were deployed during the event. The red Mercedes remained in the pit lane all Sunday evening. It was the ninth consecutive Grand Prix without the deployment of safety cars. Fernando Alonso believes this is largely due to the current generation of Formula 1 cars.
“These cars are not easy to drive,” explained Fernando Alonso. “The problems mainly occur when you try to get everything out of the car. If you’re only driving at ninety percent, you’re less likely to push the limits and the risk of accidents is smaller.” Because drivers have to save tires during a race and therefore do not drive to the limit, Alonso thinks that situations requiring the deployment of safety cars are less likely to occur.
‘There’s No Explanation’
During a qualifying session, it’s a different story. Alonso explained how the cars are then pushed to the extreme – with all the consequences that come with it. “Baku was a very good example,” he said. “In Q1 I drove the fifteenth time, but seven minutes later I set the fifth time in Q2 on a different set of tires. I improved myself by over one second, while I drove the same. Other drivers did the opposite; they were very fast in Q1 and very slow in Q2. Sometimes there’s just no explanation for it.”
“That’s why we take less risk in the races,” Alonso concluded. “We all drive at ninety percent and we pay attention to the tires and fuel consumption. As a result, there are few problems and we rarely see safety cars. The cars just respond better when you drive at that speed. It goes against the driver’s instinct a bit, but with these cars, you just have to manage that.”
