F1: Lewis Hamilton slams unsafe restart at Tuscan Grand Prix

It was a miracle that no one was seriously injured on Sunday's Tuscan Grand Prix. Reigning Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton won the race, but he was also the first person to criticise what he believes to be unsafe restart procedures implemented during the race.

The Tuscan Grand Prix was red flagged twice after debris and stricken cars were left on the track following collisions. The race barely got underway as the safety car was brought out after only three corners of proper racing. Before the drivers could settle into their racing positions, Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Raikkonen collided with last week's race winner, Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri.) Haas driver Romain Grosjean and Red Bull's Max Verstappen also became victims of the pile-up.

The cars ended up in a procession behind the safety car as stewards raced to clear the track. Just when it seemed the excitement was over, the first red flag incident took place when race leader Valtteri Bottas bunched up the field behind his Mercedes as he prepared to begin racing when the safety car entered the pits. The sudden change of pace caught the back of the field by surprise, causing several drivers to take evasive action to avoid the slower cars in front. This led to a multiple car collision which forced the red flag.

Race winner Hamilton spoke up about the dangerous way the restart was handled by race officials. "They have been been moving the switching off the safety car lights later and later. We are out there fighting for position. Especially when you earn a position like Valtteri earned the position of being in the lead," he told the BBC.

The second red flag was caused by Lance Stroll's crash, which left his Racing Point burning by the tyre wall. The barricade needed to be repaired and the car cleared out of the way before racing could resume. In the two subsequent restarts, the remaining cars started from the grid, not behind the safety car.

It remains to be seen if changes will be made with regards to race restarts behind the safety car. As seen in the Tuscan Grand Prix, timing the green light needs to be planned more accurately.