FIA explains Qatar mirror drama response and Norris penalty

The FIA has explained why it did not initially bring out the safety car for the broken mirror on track at the Qatar Grand Prix

The FIA has offered a detailed explanation as to why it did not seek to remove Alex Albon’s mirror from the track midway through the Qatar Grand Prix.

The F1 race in Losail was turned on its head on lap 30 when Alex Albon’s right mirror flew off his Williams on the start-finish straight.

It ended up in the middle of the track and triggered some double yellow flags initially, which proved critical after Lando Norris ignored them and was handed a 10-second stop go penalty.

Despite the obvious risks of a car hitting the mirror later in the race, the FIA elected to not intervene with either a virtual safety car or full safety car – and instead let the race proceed.

However, four laps later Valtteri Bottas struck the mirror when moving out of way for the leaders, which scattered broken bits all over the track.

With both Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton then suffering punctures, potentially from the mirror debris, a full safety car was called out to finally clean things up.

The handling of events by new F1 race director Rui Marques has become a big talking point, and on Monday the FIA responded with an explanation about why it elected to do things the way it did.

In an explanation statement, it said: “Normal practice is for the safety car not to be deployed if there is a small amount of debris, and off the racing line

“The extensive debris after a car hit the mirror and the punctures that occurred shortly after forced the decision on a safety car

“A VSC would not have been a solution, as the cars remain spread-out and there is not sufficient time for a marshal to clear the debris.”

The governing body did concede, however, that the events of Qatar would be looked at in more detail and that discussions would take place with teams to see if things can be improved in the future.

“The FIA constantly reviews its methods and processes and will analyse further the specific scenario, and discuss it with the teams, in order to see whether in the future a different course of action needs to be taken,” it said.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, in the pits with a puncture

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Safety car lights failure

The mirror issue was not the only drama for the FIA, with there being further confusion after the lights on the safety car failed during the restart following this drama.

The lights problem opened the door for then-race-leader Max Verstappen to be a bit confused about what has happening, and that prompted a super late restart that left him exposed to Lando Norris behind him.

Referencing this malfunctioning of the lights, the FIA said: “All teams were verbally advised that the SC would be coming in, so the restart took place in the normal fashion

“While the reason for the malfunction was identified and fixed, out of caution, the safety car was swapped in time for its third deployment.”

Norris penalty

One other major talking point after the race was the scale of the penalty handed down to Norris for ignoring the yellow flags put out for the stranded mirror.

While it was described as ‘brutal’ by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, and left McLaren asking for a review of matters, the FIA says the sanction was in line with standard practice.

“The penalty was in accordance with the penalty guidelines circulated to the teams on 19 February 2024,” it added.

“A double yellow flag infringement is considered a serious compromise of safety, which is why such offences carry such a severe penalty.”