Planet-F1

Theissen calls for a rules rethink

Monday 28th April 2008

Mario Theissen has called for changes to F1's Safety Car rules after Nick Heidfeld had to choose between running out of fuel or a penalty in Spain on Sunday.

The Safety Car was brought out on Lap 22 of the race following Heikki Kovalainen's accident, meaning the pit lane was closed.

However, Heidfeld had little choice but to pit a lap later, which meant he received a ten-second stop-go penalty.

The penalty sent the German to the back of the pack, putting an end to his hopes of scoring any points in Spain.

It wasn't the first time that a driver has been punished for needing to refuel under a Safety Car situation and, according to Theissen, it won't be the last unless F1 changes the regulations.

"It's a lottery, you cannot plan for it. You put up your strategy before the race and you can only hope it doesn't happen," said the BMW team boss.

"We tried to call Nick in but it was maybe two seconds too late - he had just passed the pit lane entry so there was no choice.

"We could do another two laps and then we had to call him in. We knew it would be a 10-second penalty but there was nothing we could do about it.

"I know the team managers and the FIA are discussing this rule already and I hope they will come up with a solution soon."