Safety car plays decisive role again in confusing end to chaotic race

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Race winner Charles Leclerc, of Ferrari, follows the safety car in the closing stages of the British Grand Prix By Andrew Benson F1 Correspondent at Silverstone Published 15 minutes ago This time, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff was able to joke about a safety car having a decisive role at the end of a chaotic and dramatic grand prix. Nearly five years have passed since Wolff watched his then driver Lewis Hamilton have a record-breaking eighth world title wrenched from his grasp as a result of the FIA race director failing to apply the rules correctly during a safety-car period. Back then, Michael Masi - who was fired a couple of months later for his error - made that call to override his organisation's own rules in a misguided attempt to not have the race finish under a safety car. At Silverstone on Sunday, that's exactly what happened . It might - for some - have been an unsatisfactory way to end a British Grand Prix that had gone from tense racing to chaos and drama in the final few laps. But as Wolff said: "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 that FIA made that call." How the confusing end unfolded The late drama was enhanced because shortly before the cars approached the end of the penultimate lap, a message flashed up on the timing screens saying that the safety car was about to pull off, restarting the race. This was one of the ways in which Masi messed up in Abu Dhabi. The rules say that the cars have to do one more lap once lapped cars have unlapped themselves behind a safety car, a process that was only just beginning at the time. In Abu Dhabi, two errors were made - only some lapped cars were allowed to unlap themselves, and the race restarted as soon as those were out of the way, allowing Red Bull's Max Verstappen, on fresh tyres, to pass Hamilton on the final lap to win his first world title. This time, a few seconds after the initial message, a second flashed up, that the safety car would stay out. It led to a confusing end to the race - and a disappointing one for some, because a dramatic climax was in waiting. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Lewis Hamilton follows the safety car in the closing stages of the title-deciding 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The lapped cars behind were ordered to pass Hamilton, allowing Red Bull's Max Verstappen to be right behind the Mercedes when the race restarted for one final lap Ferrari's Charles Leclerc had been 20 seconds in front when the safety car came out for a high-speed crash by Verstappen's Red Bull. Now, he was leading, with Mercedes' George Russell right behind and Hamilton's Ferrari right behind him. Leclerc and Hamilton were on new soft tyres, Russell on well-used mediums. As Wolff said: "Certainly from a spectacle