F1 Fanatic

Official records have Alonso as starting the race

http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2001/47/

Ok, so the people from the TV Station replyed to my e-mail. They said that Alonso’s start did not count in his personal statistics (?) and that because after the restart there were only 36 laps, out of 44.

I still think they are wrong, but i need more evidence to convince them. Please help

When there has been a red flag and the race gets restarted, anyone who does not take the restart is classed as not having started that race. This is generally the commonly accepted view and as such, the TV station are correct.

That said it is a slightly grey area of F1 statistics, with different people counting different scenarios as ‘starts’. It’s not the best question for them to have used, honestly.

No I think that’s a different scenario as there have been rule changes regarding what happens during a red flag now. Years ago it used to be that a race restarted under a red flag would be classed as an entirely new race, often with a shortened distance, with the grid lining up as they qualified and totally disregarding what happened in the however many laps there had been before the red flag.

Nowadays the clock doesn’t stop during a red flag, and the grid sets off in the order they were before the stoppage. It’s more like a ‘pausing’ of the race rather than totally stopping it.

Like I say though, it’s a grey area among F1 statisticians as to what constitutes a start. Your best bet would be to contact the TV station and complain that the question was unfair as there are two acceptable answers.

The rules at the time stated that should the race be stopped before the completion of the second, then the first start is declared null and void (and therefore treated as race never being started). In the event for the race being stopped after the second lap being completed then only the timing results will be declared null and void (and those who retired during the first race shall still be classed as starting the race). The race shall then be completed over the original distance, minus the number of lap originally completed, minus a further three laps.

If the TV station still don’t agree then I suggest getting in contact with FOM or the FIA for clarification

Even that link is missing Nick Heidfeld who retired on the first lap of the restarted race due to collision with de la Rosa. PdlR pulled into the pits to retire.

I find it pretty strange to count DNSs on that race. Räikkönen, Irvine, Burti and Alonso were out before the red flag but in my books they have started.

Talking about restarts and whether they should count, just ask Niki Lauda whether he started 1976 German GP or not?