WEC drivers question lack of full-course yellow after heavy Monza crash

Motorsport photoSeveral World Endurance Championship drivers have questioned race control for not neutralising the Monza 6 Hours following a late crash involving a Cadillac hypercar.With just two minutes left on the clock, Jota driver Alex Lynn slammed into the the barriers at the exit of the second chicane after making contact with the #94 Peugeot 9X8 of Malthe Jakobsen.Having lost fifth place to Jakobsen at Turn 1, Lynn retaliated under braking for Variante de Roggia, seemingly retaking the position in the #12 Cadillac V-Series.R. But the Briton locked up and went too deep into the corner, before veering to the right as he accelerated out of the corner to cover Jakobsen. The resultant contact scattered debris across the track on the run down to Lesmo 1, while Lynn remained inside the stranded Cadillac until being instructed to climb over the barriers.Despite the scale of the incident, the race control deployed only double yellow flags between the two corners, allowing the race to finish with minimal disruption.Aston Martin driver Tom Gamble, who would have potentially avoided a late penalty for exceeding usable energy had a full-course yellow been deployed, described the race control’s response to the crash as questionable.“I thought it would have gone to at least FCY for the incident that came there, but they obviously left it,” Gamble told reporters including Motorsport.com.“When I first went through [that section of the track], I definitely drove over a lot [of debris] and it wasn't even that. “As I drove past it, I could see the driver walking down the track and I'm like, ‘yeah, it’s a little bit questionable.“But the race directors do a good job and that was a decision they made. Obviously, nothing further happened, so it was all good. But, yeah, it definitely would have been better for us to have an FCY.”The Monza race brought the curtain down on a season in which the WEC's approach to safety car interventions has come under scrutiny, with some in the paddock questioning whether the championship has placed too much emphasis on entertainment.After September Fuji 6 Hours, Toyota driver Sebastien Buemi admitted that it had become hard for teams and drivers to predict what action the race control would take following an incident, saying “There are a lot of full course yellows and virtual safety cars and safety cars, and it is difficult to understand why the race director decides a virtual safety car and not a full course yellow.”Gamble echoed Buemi’s opinion after the Monza finale, admitting he had struggled to understand some of the decisions made this year.“Obviously, you see a piece of debris on the track sometimes and we get a VSC, and then you see a car half in the track with no wheels on it and it’s just stayed double yellow,” Gamble said. The 25-year-old’s view was echoed by Heart of Racing driver Eduardo Barrichello, who was chasing the #92 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R of Richard Lietz for the LMGT3 victory when Lynn stopped on track with a heavily damaged Cadillac.“I wish we would have gotten a safety car, a full course yellow or something. It was very dangerous as well. In my opinion, that wasn't very nice,” said Barrichello, who drives the #23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3.Several other drivers from both classes also privately expressed their frustration to Motorsport.com over the decision not to deploy an FCY.Jakobsen’s team-mate Loic Duval, however, offered a more diplomatic assessment, suggesting the timing of the crash would have likely played a role in race control’s decision.Asked whether he was surprised by a lack of FCY or VSC, Duval took some time to consider his response before replying: “Yes and no. “I think if this would have happened earlier in the race, you would have had something from the race control, but it was the end of the race.“They put a double yellow flag, which means that you really have to slow down and you have to be capable of stopping the car. “I think everybody was aware. Nobody took any risk at that time. So, I think the race director did more or less what was needed, because at the end, you would have had a race that would have stopped on the full-course yellow or safety car at that point.“Luckily, we can trust the drivers, and nobody was pushing in that double yellow section. So, I think we can be happy with the way the race control and the other guys managed the situation.” Read Also: Robert Kubica announces exit from AF Corse’s privateer Hypercar in WEC WEC Monza: Cadillac wins chaotic finale, #8 Toyota seals drivers’ title To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.