Safety Car Influences Chaotic Finish at British Grand Prix
Race winner Charles Leclerc, representing Ferrari, followed the safety car during the final stages of the British Grand Prix.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was able to make light of the safety car's decisive role at the conclusion of a dramatic and chaotic race.
It has been nearly five years since Wolff witnessed his then-driver Lewis Hamilton lose a record-breaking eighth world title due to the FIA race director's incorrect application of rules during a safety car period.
At that time, Michael Masi, who was dismissed a few months later for the error, made a decision to override his organisation's own regulations in an attempt to avoid the race ending under a safety car.
At Silverstone on Sunday, the race did indeed finish under a safety car.
While some may find this an unsatisfactory conclusion to a British Grand Prix that transitioned from intense racing to extraordinary upheaval in its final laps, Wolff commented:
"I would have preferred for this to happen in '21. That was more important. It's good that the regulations have been followed.
Sometimes it doesn't give for the most exciting final. But this is a sport. Show follows sport and not the other way around. So it's good the FIA made that call."
How the Confusing End Unfolded
The late-race drama intensified when, shortly before the cars approached the end of the penultimate lap, a message appeared on timing screens indicating the safety car was about to withdraw, signaling a race restart.
This situation echoed the errors made by Masi in Abu Dhabi. The regulations require cars to complete an additional lap behind the safety car after lapped cars have unlapped themselves before a restart can occur, a process that was only just beginning at the time.
In Abu Dhabi, two mistakes were made: only some lapped cars were allowed to unlap themselves, and the race restarted immediately after, enabling Red Bull's Max Verstappen, on fresh tyres, to overtake Hamilton on the final lap and claim his first world title.
This time, a few seconds after the initial message, a second message was displayed indicating the safety car would remain on track.
The conflicting messages led to a confusing race conclusion and disappointment among some fans anticipating a dramatic finish.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc had been leading by 20 seconds when the safety car was deployed due to a high-speed crash involving Verstappen's Red Bull. At the restart, Leclerc led, with Mercedes' George Russell in second and Hamilton in third.
Leclerc and Hamilton were on new soft tyres, while Russell was on worn medium tyres. Wolff remarked:
"Certainly from a spectacle standpoint, everybody would have loved to see Lewis on a soft against us and maybe fighting with Leclerc."
Regarding the timing screen errors, Wolff stated:
"That's OK. Mistakes happen in situations like this. It was corrected, so that's fine.
It doesn't matter. It was rectified."
The FIA attributed the initial message to a software glitch that caused the system to get ahead of itself, ironically similar to Masi's error. The incident will be investigated.
Russell, who along with many drivers believes Hamilton was unfairly treated in Abu Dhabi, commented:
"You go back to Abu Dhabi '21, and that is just how racing goes. Nobody can plan for somebody to have an incident, and the way F1 deal with it and FIA deal with it shouldn't be any different at the end of the race compared to the start of the race.
Obviously, there was a lot of chat post-Abu Dhabi '21.
If you actually look at the number of races that have finished under the safety car over the past 20 years, it's not actually a lot. So, it is a shame, but what can you do? I don't think it should be different."
Hamilton was reluctant to revisit the events of Abu Dhabi but said:
"Yeah, same as George said. Not really much more to add."
Safety Car Software Error 'Frustrating'
Antonelli's Issues Impact Title Battle
Kimi Antonelli made two pit stops in quick succession after his Mercedes developed steering problems.
The safety car confusion was only the final chapter in a race that had been engaging but escalated significantly in intensity during the last 20 laps.
Initially, the climax appeared to be Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, the championship leader, pursuing and closing in on Leclerc, who had led from the start after delaying his pit stop by 10 laps to attack the Ferrari on fresher tyres.
Antonelli was closing rapidly, making a win seem likely, but then he reported steering issues with his car.
Two pit stops followed in quick succession, dropping the Italian down the order. During this time, Mercedes discovered a wheel shield—a carbon-fibre component inside the wheel used to manage airflow and brake heat—had come loose.
The team removed the shield during the second stop and sent Antonelli back out, but the car still felt unstable. He continued in ninth place, eventually losing points due to a penalty for exceeding track limits while managing steering difficulties.
Leclerc Wins Dramatic Race; Russell and Hamilton Complete Podium
Antonelli's mechanical problems left Leclerc comfortably in front, with Verstappen and Russell, who had a tyre advantage, closing in on Hamilton in a contest for the podium spots.
Verstappen crashed with four laps remaining, and Russell opted to stay out during the ensuing safety car period, with Mercedes correctly betting the race would not restart.
The final result—Leclerc first, Russell second, Hamilton third, and Antonelli failing to score—significantly affected the championship standings. Russell reduced his deficit to Antonelli from 43 points before the race to 25, with Hamilton seven points further behind. Had Antonelli won, the gap would have exceeded 50 points.
This outcome effectively eliminated the reliability disparity between the Mercedes drivers, as Russell acknowledged:
"I think probably a 25-point gap in his favour is probably correct. He has done a better job than me this year to this point, so he deserves to be ahead of me.
Whether it should be 25 points, whether it should be 10 points, whether it should be 35 points, is a debate, but in that ballpark. I obviously lost 15 points as well in Monaco with the drive-through penalty. I think anywhere from 10 to 30 points behind is probably about fair."
And he acknowledged: "If I want to fight for the championship, the performances need to be better. I need to be better. I need to be working better with my team. We need to be maximising everything.
We've got a close fight now with Ferrari, so it's not just Kimi and I. Lewis is still very close. It needs to be improved."
Surprise Weekend for Ferrari
Leclerc's victory marked Ferrari's second win in three races following Hamilton's success in Barcelona. Although Mercedes demonstrated faster pace and Antonelli was poised to win, Ferrari were notably more competitive at Silverstone than anticipated.
Ferrari already possessed the fastest car through corners, and an engine upgrade introduced in Austria has reduced the power and deployment gap to Mercedes.
Hamilton commented:
"It's amazing to see the pace that we've had this weekend at this sort of circuit. We definitely didn't anticipate it. So just phenomenal to [have a] strong weekend as a team and come away with really good points is really, really special."
Leclerc and team principal Frederic Vasseur, however, remained cautious about their prospects of consistently challenging Mercedes.
Leclerc stated:
"It's too early to say. This weekend was a particularly big surprise for the whole team. Not the win today, just the overall performance.
We were a lot faster than what we thought, and I think as much as we need to analyse when things are going a lot worse than expected, we also need to analyse when things go a lot better than expected.
Coming into the weekend, I remember the meetings that we've done on Thursday and we kind of thought we would be 0.6secs, 0.5secs off, minimum, and we were much better than that, and we actually won today. So, it's a very special feeling."
Regarding 19-year-old Antonelli, he remained composed despite the race difficulties. He has consistently demonstrated superior pace compared to Russell, appears unbeatable when problem-free, and maintains a substantial 25-point championship lead.
Antonelli remarked:
"We lost a lot of points, but this weekend we showed the speed, and we showed as well what the potential can be.
When I'm in a good place, when also we're in a good place with the team, with the car, we showed what we are capable of.
So the momentum is still there, and actually it makes the fire grow even more, to go out there, inspire and try to do even better."
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