Race Control calls in the Safety Car, then changes its mind eight seconds later
It remains unclear why the Safety Car, initially instructed to return to the pits, was ultimately kept on track, neutralising the final lap of the British Grand Prix.
Ferrari celebrated another memorable victory just three weeks after its triumph in Barcelona, this time at Silverstone—a circuit where many had expected the Scuderia to struggle because of its engine performance. The win came courtesy of Charles Leclerc, who finally returned to the top step of the podium after almost two years, bringing an end to what had been a particularly difficult period for the Monegasque driver.
However, despite Ferrari’s celebrations, the closing stages of the race also sparked controversy due to the FIA Race Control’s handling of the Safety Car procedure.
Eight seconds of confusion
The incident occurred on lap 51 of 52. According to the FIA’s official timing messages, at 17:27:42 Race Control issued the notification that the Safety Car would return to the pits at the end of the lap, allowing the drivers to race on the final lap after all lapped cars had been permitted to overtake and rejoin the back of the field.
Just eight seconds later, at 17:27:50, a second message reversed that decision. Instead of withdrawing the Safety Car, Race Control issued the instruction: “Safety Car deployed.” As a result, the race remained neutralised until the chequered flag, denying the field one final lap of green-flag racing.
The FIA’s explanation
The first theory put forward was that Race Control had realised not all lapped cars had been able to catch the back of the pack in time, as required by the Safety Car procedure—a regulation that has been under intense scrutiny ever since the controversial events of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
After the race, however, the FIA provided a different explanation, stating that the initial message had simply been published by mistake.
“The regulations governing the Safety Car period, Article B5.13.5, require that one full lap must be completed after the unlapping procedure,” the FIA explained. “The ‘Safety Car in this lap’ message was displayed erroneously due to a software error.”
Ferrari had anticipated that the Safety Car would come into the pits and reacted accordingly by bringing Lewis Hamilton in for a set of Soft tyres, hoping to give him a stronger chance in his battle with George Russell. Before Max Verstappen’s accident triggered the late Safety Car, the Mercedes driver had been running on much fresher Medium tyres compared to Lewis Hamilton’s worn Hard compound.
The neutralised finish also represented a missed opportunity for Kimi Antonelli. Had the race restarted, the Italian would at least have had a slim chance of building a five-second gap to offset his track limits penalty and salvage a single championship point.
