Heated Debate Over Le Mans 24 Hours Safety Car Rules

Sebastien Buemi and Sebastien Bourdais — two Le Mans 24 Hours veteran drivers — show contrasting views on safety car rules implemented since last year.

The new system uses a single safety car gathering all cars behind the race leader — different from previous rules using three safety cars to separate the pack on the 13.6 km circuit.

“Now you need to be a lucky person. Because the safety car resets everything, even if you’ve had an exceptional race,” states Buemi, four-time champion with Toyota.

The Swiss driver highlights his team’s experience last year — leading until the 18th hour but finishing outside podium positions due to the safety car system keeping the pack tight.

Conversely, Bourdais who was three-time runner-up with Peugeot, supports these new regulations.

“I personally reckon it’s a good thing, because people are here to see a race. Better to give everyone a chance rather than kicking someone out of the victory fight when they’ve done nothing wrong,” explains the Jota Cadillac racer.