World Champion Jenson Button is one of nine drivers who are all under investigation for driving too quickly under Safety Car conditions in Valencia. However, the McLaren driver has hinted that he had no option but to bend the rules.
Since last year, drivers’ steering wheels display a delta time the moment the Safety Car is deployed; with a countdown timer visible, no competitor must reach the finish line on each Safety Car-led lap before the timer has reached zero.
The system prevents drivers, as seen in the past, pushing to make up lost time when the Safety Car is on-track. However, Button has said that – because of his position on-circuit when the Safety Car was deployed – a conflicting situation emerged.
“I don't think I was surprised by the speed but, starting seventh and finishing third, I was definitely helped out by the Safety Car,” Jenson admitted in the post-race press conference.
“I had the Safety Car line and the Safety Car warning from the team when I came around the (penultimate) corner of the lap, which is a full-speed corner - I went around that and then slowed down after that corner…the problem was that I was at the end of the lap, so I couldn't slow down.”
The following drivers’ race results are subject to the FIA steward enquiry:
Button (3rd), Barrichello (4th), Kubica (5th), Sutil (6th), Buemi (8th), de la Rosa (10th), Petrov (11th), Liuzzi (13th) and Hülkenberg (DNF).
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