The regulations state that drivers have to use full wet tyres if the formation lap starts behind the safety car.
However, the Catch-22 is that if conditions are deemed safe enough for the safety car to be withdrawn the track is usually already too dry for wet tyres.
At the rolling start of the sprint race at Spa last month half the field rushed into the pits to change to intermediates as the safety car came in, with the rest following at the end of the first flying lap as teams tried to stagger changes across their two cars.
However, in theory, there is nothing to stop the entire field from coming in, which nearly happened at a restart of the 2021 Hungarian GP.
On that occasion, it was a normal grid start so tyre choice was free, but the drying conditions led everyone bar Lewis Hamilton to change from intermediates to slicks at the end of the formation lap, making for a frantically busy pitlane.
Zandvoort has the tightest pitlane of the season with small gaps between team garages, even though these margins were extended ahead of this year's visit.
In order to avoid mass pit stops FIA race director Niels Wittich has given himself the option of allowing drivers to start the formation lap behind the safety car on intermediates “for the safe and orderly conduct of the event, and due to the exceptional layout of the pit lane at this event”.
Source: Autosport