Brundle Urges FIA Safety Car Overhaul After Silverstone Letdown

Martin Brundle has called on the FIA to overhaul its safety car regulations after the British Grand Prix ended behind the safety car, denying Silverstone a grandstand finish. The former driver and Sky Sports analyst argues the current unlapping procedure is guaranteed to prolong caution periods on long circuits, and he laid out three concrete alternatives to protect the spectacle.

Why it matters:

Charles Leclerc was desperately defending from a charging Kimi Antonelli when Max Verstappen beached his car in the gravel at Stowe on lap 48, triggering a safety car that stayed out until the chequered flag. The race director allowed lapped cars to pass the leaders on lap 51, but because the safety car must complete one additional tour after that process, the field ran out of time to resume racing. Brundle insists the regulations currently punish the leaders and the paying spectators by prioritizing backmarker recovery over a proper finish, a flaw that becomes especially costly on expansive layouts like Silverstone and Spa.

The details:

• Brundle noted that the wave-by system was originally introduced to prevent backmarkers from interfering with the lead battle and to give slower cars a chance to rejoin the lead lap. On lengthy modern circuits, however, the same rules burn multiple laps that could have been spent racing.
• His first proposal borrows from IndyCar: if a safety car flies inside the final 10 laps, lapped runners would peel into the pitlane and rejoin at the rear of the field, bypassing the slow process of circulating around the track to regain position.
• A second, simpler option would see lapped cars automatically drop behind the lead pack via timing adjustments, eliminating the physical pass entirely and immediately clearing the way for a restart.
• The third suggestion is to throw a red flag and stage a standing restart in race order. It takes longer to orchestrate, but it guarantees a green-flag finish rather than a procession behind the safety car.

What's next:

The debate over safety car endings is hardly new, yet another high-profile letdown at a historic venue adds fresh urgency. The FIA typically moves cautiously on sporting regulation changes, meaning any overhaul would likely face a lengthy consultation process with teams. For now, Brundle’s ideas offer a clear blueprint, but whether they reach the rulebook before the season ends—or slip to 2027—remains an open question.