F1 Q&A: Safety-car finish, Verstappen deal, Hajjar and Red Bull


Charles Leclerc added a second win for Ferrari in three races in a dramatic British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Mercedes’ George Russell finished second and Leclerc’s teammate Lewis Hamilton finished third in their home race.

Kimi Antonelli, who won his first sprint on Saturday, finished the race 16th after car problems, cutting his lead over Russell to 25 points.

BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your latest questions after a race that ended under the safety car after Max Verstappen crashed out.

Did Formula 1 miss a trick with the end of the British GP? Should they see what happened in a similar situation at this year’s Indy 500? In order not to end up behind the safety car, they red flagged the race to enable a recovery before restarting the race and finishing in green flag conditions – Matthew

This is one of those situations where everyone has their own opinion, every point of view has validity, but F1 as a sport has agreed a certain approach based on the lessons of the past.

In an ideal world, it would be entertaining if the race didn’t end under a safety car. It could be argued that this is anti-climatic.

At the same time, it’s hard to argue that the British Grand Prix lacked drama and excitement, even though it ended under caution.

Take a step back, and the issue here is the regulation around safety cars and their operation.

They have been developed over many years and developed in such a way that the FIA, Formula 1 and the teams are satisfied with them while always being open to improvement.

Lessons learned from F1 Abu Dhabi 2021. There was context in which it was agreed that, under ideal circumstances, it was preferable not to finish the race under the safety car.

The problem with that race was that the race director at the time tried to make sure the race ended under the green flag, thinking it was the right thing to do, but he made a series of mistakes in doing so, including ignoring the rules.

I’ve seen people say that race directors are free to run safety cars as they wish. This is a misinterpretation – they are free to conduct it as they wish under the standing rules.

Michael Masi got it wrong in Abu Dhabi. Race directors can’t just make up the rules. Otherwise, why have them?

Now, yes, the race director at Silverstone on Sunday could have chosen to red flag the race when Verstappen crashed at Stow. Some may have liked him.

But if Verstappen’s incident had happened on lap 25 rather than 48, would that have been a red flag? Almost certainly not.

So, why would there be a red flag with four laps to go as the race could end under the safety car?

There is a question of sporting integrity here. In these circumstances the Race Director has the possibility to change the result at any discretion.

In this case, George Russell did not stop for tires, and as a result he gained a place. If the race had been red-flagged, everyone could have changed tires, restarted. The location can be changed again.

Who is to say which of these situations is right or wrong, desirable or not? Even drivers may conflict with this depending on their own personal circumstances.

Race-winner Charles Leclerc said: ‘It’s not great for the fans around the track here. In the helmet, I was kind of happy that there wasn’t a restart to hold on to that win.”

Russell said: “Obviously it’s a shame for any race to finish under the safety car. But then you go back to the Abu Dhabi ’21, and that’s just how racing goes.

“Nobody can plan for an incident to happen for somebody, and the way F1 deals with it and the FIA ​​deals with it shouldn’t be any different at the end of the race than at the start of the race.

“Obviously, there was a lot of chatter after Abu Dhabi ’21. If you look at the number of races that have ended under the safety car over the last 20 years, it’s actually not that many. So, it’s a shame, but what can you do? I don’t think it should be any different.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said: “Sometimes it doesn’t make for the most exciting finals. Of course from a spectator point of view, everyone would love to see Lewis (Hamilton) fight against us with soft (tyres) and maybe Leclerc. But it’s a game. Don’t look the other way.”



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