FIA says rules forced British GP to finish under safety car

The FIA said a software fault caused the misleading “Safety Car In This Lap” message that sparked confusion at the end of the British Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen’s crash at Stowe brought out the safety car with six laps remaining. Race control allowed the lapped cars to unlap themselves, and the FIA said the rules required one more lap after that process, leaving no legal opportunity for a restart and forcing the race to finish under caution.

The finish drew a strong reaction from the Silverstone crowd, with commentary box reporter David Croft hearing booing and seeing some spectators leave as the hoped-for final-lap shootout disappeared. Martin Brundle said fans were “denied a proper end” to the race and argued the incident exposed a possible loophole in Formula 1’s safety car rules, especially on long circuits where the caution period can be extended.

Charles Leclerc was declared the winner for his first victory of the season, with George Russell second and Lewis Hamilton losing places after pitting for fresh soft tires. Hamilton was also under investigation for an earlier yellow-flag infringement. The FIA said race operations followed Article B5.13.5 correctly and that the software error caused the incorrect message, while comparisons were drawn with the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi title decider.