6 replies to this topic

[Kvadrat]

Originally race was scheduled for 61 laps but after Berger's accident on lap 4 it was shortened to 58 laps. I understand that 1 lap was for unfinished 4th lap, another 1 was for warm-up lap before second start. What was third cancelled lap for?

[speedman13]

Originally race was scheduled for 61 laps but after Berger's accident on lap 4 it was shortened to 58 laps. I understand that 1 lap was for unfinished 4th lap, another 1 was for warm-up lap before second start. What was third cancelled lap for?

The accident was on the first corner while the field was still fairly well together, by the time the red flag was put out most would have passed the start line so would have to do another full lap to pit.

[Kvadrat]

The accident was on the first corner while the field was still fairly well together, by the time the red flag was put out most would have passed the start line so would have to do another full lap to pit.

It is evedent from BBC video that everybody had stopped on the grid after the unfinished 4th lap. Mansell was out of his car long before possible time of slow completing 5th lap.

[Tim Murray]

The report in Motoring News corroborates Kvadrat's post, saying that the red flag was displayed at the last corner before the leaders completed their fourth lap, so no-one would have been able to do a fifth lap.

[paulhooft]

I saw the race on BBC TV.
It was a big accident in the Tamburello corner. and the got on Fire.
BBC stopped the transmission, perhaps because they believed it was a Fatal accident..
And it could have been.
Some time on they resumed covering as it was clear that he was save..

The report in Motoring News corroborates Kvadrat's post, saying that the red flag was displayed at the last corner before the leaders completed their fourth lap, so no-one would have been able to do a fifth lap.

[quintin cloud]

If I remember that far back the TV footage was still showing the whole thing, and also with Berger been pulled out the car and so on, BBC may have only pulled it in the UK not the rest of the world....

[Nikos Spagnol]

I think they reduced race distance in 3 laps because rules stated that a red flagged race should be restarted from the penultimate lap before the accident (that is, 2nd lap), thus becoming a aggregated race (2 first laps + the remaining).

So, the third and fourth laps were declared null, plus the warm-up lap for the second start, that makes 3 laps less.

The reasoning behind this rule is that, whenever an accident happens and stops the race, lap times from the lap of the accident and the lap before are affected, as the backmakers may be still running on the lap before (i.e., behind the start/finish line) when the red flag is deployed.