A record-breaking weekend for Formula 1 ended in crushing disappointment as the British Grand Prix finished behind a safety car despite millions of fans being told there would be a final-lap shoot-out.
It left many of the estimated 175,000 spectators packed into Silverstone booing and millions more screaming at their television sets.
Race winner Charles Leclerc of Ferrari lifts his trophy on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain. Getty Images
The ending ultimately saw Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc cross the finish line unchallenged.
The FIA, F1’s governing body, said “a software error” had “erroneously” led to a “safety car in this lap” message being displayed on the penultimate lap. In fact, backmarkers were still unlapping themselves at that point following Max Verstappen’s crash with four laps of the race remaining.
Article B5. 13.5 states that “one lap must be completed following the unlapping procedure”, meaning the “safety car in” message should never have been displayed.
Fans had been licking their lips at what they thought would be a thrilling finish, with the field bunched up behind the safety car.
In particular, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, in third place and armed with new soft tyres, was denied the opportunity to attack second-placed George Russell of Mercedes, whose tyres were 17 laps old, and teammate Leclerc in first place.
Hamilton had stopped when the safety car came out following Verstappen’s crash on lap 48, losing track position to Russell in the process. Russell admitted afterwards that his tyres were “stone cold”, conceding he would almost certainly have lost second place to Hamilton.
“I got very lucky at the end with the safety car,” he said. “It would have been great for the fans for it to have restarted. [But] my tyres were stone cold, so I was quite happy.”
Australian driver Oscar Piastri finished 11th and outside the points, after suffering damage to his front wing at the start of the race.
Russell was the big winner of the day with teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli suffering a suspension failure on lap 41, just as he was closing in on Leclerc for the race lead.
Antonelli tried to finish the race but was handed a five-second penalty for track limits, dropping him to 16th. The Italian had earlier had to fight back after losing position to the two Ferraris at the start, albeit Hamilton was hit with a five-second penalty of his own for a false start.
Antonelli’s second pointless finish in the last three races allowed Russell to close to within 25 points of him, while Hamilton closed to within 32 points.
Ostensibly that is good news in terms of British championship hopes. But fans at Silverstone – where F1 set a new all-time attendance record of 564,000 across the race weekend – were left unimpressed, booing as the race ended.
Verstappen was also furious, saying “f— this car, f—ing unbelievable, f— this”, after he crashed out for the second race running. Red Bull has been warned.
Max Verstappen was not happy. Marcel van Dorst
Hamilton was disappointed with Ferrari’s decision to pit him under the safety car – insisting he would not have done so if they had told him he would come out behind Russell.
The seven-time world champion was perhaps mindful of the fact that in 2021, in probably the most controversial finish to a season in history, he was furious that the rules were disregarded to allow a final-lap shoot-out in Abu Dhabi, which ultimately cost him the title. So he could hardly be upset this time that the rules were followed.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said that was certainly his view. “I would have preferred this [finishing behind a safety car] to happen in 2021 – that was more important,” the Austrian said.
“[But] it is good that the regs have been followed. Sometimes it does not give for the most exciting finale from a spectacle standpoint. People would have liked to have seen Lewis on a soft against us and maybe fighting with Leclerc.
“[But] this is a sport. Show follows sport and not the other way around. It is good that the FIA made that call.”
Asked whether it mattered that millions of fans had been led to believe they would have a one-lap shoot-out, Wolff shrugged: “Situations happen. It doesn’t matter, it was rectified.”
Russell also referenced Abu Dhabi when weighing up the safety-car finish. “I mean, of course it is a shame for any race to finish under the safety car,” he said.
“But then you go back to Abu Dhabi 2021 and that is how racing goes.
“The way F1 and the FIA deal with it should not be any different at the end of the race compared to the start of the race.
“There was a lot of chat post-Abu Dhabi 2021, but if you look at the number of races that finished behind the safety car in the past 20 years, it is not a lot. It is a shame. But what can you do? I don’t think it should be different just because it is the end of the race.”
Hamilton added: “Same. Nothing further to add.”