Formula 1 drivers were left “speechless” by the FIA stewards’ call for cars to unlap themselves behind the late safety car period in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Nicholas Latifi’s crash at Turn 14 saw the safety car deployed with just five laps remaining, with title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen leading the field.
While marshals retrieved Latifi’s stricken car, race control initially forbid lapped cars from overtaking, but then announced those between Hamilton and Verstappen could overtake before the race restart.
The five cars running from seventh to 11th place – Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel – were all permitted to pass and regain a lap.
It allowed Verstappen on fresh soft tyres to attack Hamilton on worn hards in a one-lap sprint finish, with the Red Bull driver passing Hamilton at Turn 5 and going on to win the race and secure the world championship.
The controversial ending led to Mercedes lodging a post-race protest, which was subsequently dismissed, and was dubbed as “made for TV” by McLaren driver Norris.
Norris said, as quoted by Motorsport.com: “I didn’t actually know it was only like the first three or four [actually five] up to Max. So it was obviously made to be a fight, it was for the TV of course, it was for the result. Whether or not it was fair is not up to to me to decide.
“Sometimes they let you go, sometimes they don’t. It’s just 50/50 half the time. But they said that they’re not gonna let us pass. So I’m guessing that was a message to say, they were just not going to let us pass at all. But then to suddenly do it just for the final lap, and for a one lap shootout, then I’m a bit surprised.”
Alonso, who finished behind Norris in eighth place, admitted the situation was a “little bit confusing”.
“When the safety car was out I thought we were able to overtake quickly, because normally it is what happens,” Alonso said. “You see the green light of the safety car, and then you are unlapping yourself until they remove the car.
“But we didn’t have that green signal, and then two laps after the engineer told me that you will not be able to unlap yourself, and the positions would stay like this.
“One corner later the green light came on and I said, ‘But we have a green light?.’ And they said ‘Yeah, yeah, you can do it now, follow Norris.’ And I followed Norris. So it was a little bit confusing, probably.”
Ferrari driver Leclerc added: “For me it was a bit weird because I was a bit in the middle of nowhere, We could overtake the leaders I think for just like a lap before restarting, and we were in the middle of nowhere.
“I was just fighting for the ninth place with Esteban, I think, just in front. But first I was told I would not be able to unlap myself, at the end at the last moment we actually had the opportunity to unlap ourselves. So yeah, it was a bit of a strange one.”
Vettel revealed he got a late call to inform him he would be allowed to unlap himself ahead of the restart.
“Very late, but I think too late, they should let us pass straight away like other times,” Vetel said.
“And obviously, you have the guys fighting in the front. So you’ve just got to clear the path. I don’t know what it was. For us it was a shame because we didn’t have a race then, because everything was spread out.”
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was the next lapped car in the queue but was ordered to remain behind Hamilton and Verstappen, which confused the McLaren driver.
“I was confused because I got that message that they won’t overtake,” said Ricciardo.
“Through my head I thought, ‘That seems okay,’ like I guess, fair, because Lewis had such a lead and Max has newer tyres, in this way he has to cut through a few cars if they’re going to restart the race.
“Then I saw some cars overtake so I asked, ‘What do I do, do I pass?,’ and then I think Tom [Stallard] said ‘No, you have to stay here.’
“So I’ve literally got front row seats for the last lap. And I’m also on a new soft, or a newer soft, so I was like, ‘Do I pass both of them?’ Nah, just kidding. I’m honestly a bit speechless, I don’t know what to make of that. I really don’t. I need to see how it all came about.”
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was in a podium position as the race restarted, fending off AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda to finish in P3. The Spaniard admitted he found the situation “strange”.
“It was certainly a very strange situation for me,” said Sainz. “Because I was obviously battling for a podium with Valtteri [Bottas] and some AlphaTauris behind with a medium tyre, while I was on a very used hard.
“At the beginning I was told they were not going to be allowed to unlap themselves, the people in front of me. Then it was decided to unlap themselves, and some people unlapped themselves, but there was still, I think it was an Aston Martin and a McLaren of [Daniel] Ricciardo, between the two leaders and myself.
“And this I’ve never had before, having to restart the race with these two guys in front of me, and while fighting for a P3. So I do believe it was a strange one, and maybe something to look at because it was very strange to see, and it nearly cost me my podium, to be honest.”
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