The F2 Bahrain feature race saw botched pit stops, spinning cars and two DNFs. However, this chaos was not the only thing on the minds of the podium sitters: Pourchaire, Liam Lawson and Juri Vips.
Speaking to The Checkered Flag post-race, Pourchaire was asked whether he knew he was on the final lap once the safety car was called in.
He answered that he only found out at the last second when his race engineer informed him that he was on the last lap.
He said: “It was a lot of pressure and the safety car was going way too slow – I don’t know why, to be honest.
“I wanted to say it over the radio but this year I’m trying to work on not screaming over the radio every time.
“I was putting pressure on the safety car because the brakes, the tyres were nowhere, and it was almost dangerous.”
The safety car was deployed twice during the race. Once following Frederik Vesti’s spin at the very beginning, and again after an incident involving Enzo Fittipaldi and Richard Verschoor.
On lap 28, contact with Fittipaldi caused Verschoor’s Trident to spin. The Dutch driver later directed his anger at Williams F1’s test driver, Roy Nissany.
It was this latter incident that caused Pourchaire’s frustration at the behaviour of the safety car.
The rules state that all drivers must reduce their speed and are forbidden from overtaking under safety car conditions. This causes them to rapidly lose tire performance.
Juri Vips, who finished in third position, added to the criticism. He explained that he ended up driving in third gear along the main straight, which he called “ridiculous”.
Pourchaire continued, adding that “it was crazy” before Carlin’s Liam Lawson joked that he shouted over the radio, making up for Pourchaire’s restraint.
Despite a high-pressure restart, the ART GP driver clung onto the lead, taking his first victory of the season.
However, this was not the only incidence of drivers disapproving of the safety car over 2022’s first race weekend.
During the F1 race on Sunday, eventual winner Charles Leclerc expressed his irritation at its slow pace.
Safety car driver Bernd Maylander responded to similar criticism in a 2021 podcast with In The Fast Lane, saying that he recognised the struggles of drivers losing tire performance.
He explained: “In that moment, it’s even more important to cover the marshals, to bring the debris away, to bring the car off the track in a safe way.”
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