Following the decision by the FIA to introduce standing starts following safety car periods, five teams conducted a test for the new procedure at the end of Tuesday’s test day at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Whenever a safety car is deployed, drivers will now have to line-up on the grid on the restart, rather than using a rolling start as has previously been utilised.
Light panels around the circuit will indicate when a standing start is imminent by displaying an ‘SS’ message, while teams will also be informed with a ‘STANDING START’ message via the official messaging system.
However, officials will also have the option to use ‘RS’ and ‘ROLLING START’ messages if conditions are not suitable for a standing start.
The test on Tuesday was to check the FIA software was working and that drivers were receiving the correct messages on their dashboards, particularly in the light that the Barcelona circuit does not have light panels around the track and currently rely on marshal flags and boards.
The Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, Haas F1 Team, Scuderia Ferrari, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and Williams Martini Racing outfits all participated in the test, with further tests of the system set to take place at the end of track action on both Wednesday and Thursday,