HOW A VSC F1 SYSTEM FAILURE FOOLED PEREZ OUT OF A PODIUM

An FIA hardware issue briefly delaying the virtual safety car restart of Formula 1’s French Grand Prix cost Sergio Perez third place

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Perez was running third ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell on the 50th lap of the 53-lap race

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with both drivers told the VSC period triggered by the need to recover Zhou Guanyu’s Alfa Romeo was about to end as they approached the Turn 8/9 chicane.

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However, what the FIA described as a “hardware issue” with the VSC system triggered an automatic switch to a backup.

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This meant that the restart was delayed by around one minute, with Russell overtaking Perez when that happened.

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The primary VSC system and its backup operate independently.

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The first system issued the first VSC restart instruction and triggered the countdown.

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