Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber has branded Formula One's safety car rules a "joke" and claims their influence on races has left the sport looking "amateurish".
The Australian's comments come in the wake of Nelson Piquet's fortuitous second-placed finish for Renault at Sunday's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
The Brazilian rookie was running down the order on a one-stop strategy after starting in 17th place, but took his pit stop one lap before the safety car was deployed after Toyota's Timo Glock suffered a big shunt coming onto the start-finish straight.
That effectively handed Piquet a free pit stop as he was able to close up on his rivals in the snake behind the safety car, and then got ahead of everyone bar eventual race winner Lewis Hamilton when the pit lane opened and most of the drivers pitted.
"The safety car threw up a bizarre result and I think the rules are a joke," Webber said in his column on the BBC Sport website.
"I was happy for Renault's Nelson Piquet that he finished second, given the start to the season he has had, but F1 is more professional and better than the rules we have for the safety car at the moment.
"It looks very amateurish when the guy who nearly wins the race starts 17th and only overtakes one car, Kazuki Nakajima's Williams, because he spun.
"For me, that is not what Formula One is all about.
"Nelson would be the first to agree that it was not a fully deserved second place."
Formula One's safety car procedures have come under scrutiny after a rule was brought in that sees the pit lane closed for the first few laps of safety car period in order to prevent drivers making for the pits at full speed while there are potential dangers on the track.
However, this has already resulted in the likes of Honda's Rubens Barrichello and Nick Heidfeld, of BMW Sauber, being penalised for taking their stops while the pit lane was closed as the only alternative was to run out of fuel on the track.
The sport's governing body, the FIA, and the teams have promised to take another look at the safety car rules, and Webber, who is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, believes changes cannot come soon enough.
"None of the drivers like the current system - we don't like to get flukey results," he continued.
"The teams and the FIA are trying to find a better way with the safety car but they are making heavy weather of it."
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