FIA release statement in defence of Safety Car following driver comments

In light of recent comments made by the likes of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, the FIA has released a statement in response.

Leclerc and Verstappen, among others, have commented on the speed of the safety car - complaining that it is too slow to manage to warm up the tyres effectively.

Leclerc's comments which were made during the Melbourne grand prix were responded to by George Russell - who jibed that the Mercedes AMG Safety Car goes "5 seconds" quicker than the Aston Martin Vantage because the car has more horsepower.

Leclerc responded to the Mercedes driver by suggesting that if the Safety Car was a Ferrari it would go a further "5 seconds" quicker than the current Mercedes AMG.

Anyway, in light of these comments, the FIA has responded and suggested that both makes of car are relatively equal on pace and that it does not matter anyway because, ultimately, the race director controls the speed of the vehicle from afar.

The full statement was released on the FIA.com website and further posted on the governing body's social media.

This is not the first time drivers have commented on the speed of the Safety Cars, with many drivers in the past mentioning how the leading car could go much faster than it does.

Drivers have also made suggestions that the car goes even slower when certain drivers are leading the pack so that cars behind, who can warm up their tyres more effectively, have an advantage over the leading driver.

What do you make of the FIA's comments? Were they needed or was it a meaningless statement to show keep their Safety Car providers happy?