Formula 1 Round 22 Abu Dhabi GP

It's perfectly normal for lapped cars to be let past (in fact it would be completely unprecedented if they weren't)

It's perfectly normal for the safety car to be called in once the track is clear.

Everybody fully expected these two things to happen once the crash occurred, this is why Red Bull pitted immediately and Hamilton was so distraught on the radio.

The only abnormal thing was the strange delay in letting the lapped cars past.

Latifi crashed on lap 53. The car was clear on lap 55 and on lap 56 the last of the marshalls who were clearing up some off track debris returned behind the barriers. Lapped cars don't immediately get up to racing speed when they are let past the safety car, they are told to maintain an appropriate speed. It is safe for them to be allowed past once the blockage is clear, even if there are some marshalls cleaning up the last of the debris, as this would be treated like a VSC. This is why on lap 55 Lewis Hamilton's race engineer got on the radio and told him the lapped cars are about to be let past, as he was expecting normal procedure to be followed. This is why Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, two experienced world champions with no affiliation to either Mercedes or Red Bull, both got on the radio to their teams asking why lapped cars weren't being allowed past like they normally are.

When the FIA announced out of the blue that they were taking the unprecedented step of not allowing lapped cars to pass Alonso (who was one of the lapped cars and is entirely unaffiliated to the two teams fighting for the title) literally laughed upon hearing the announcement and said they're keeping Max behind him when he should be in front of him.

Who knows what the reason was for that initial plan to go against all precedent and not allow lapped cars to pass. It was safe when the car was clear on lap 55 and multiple drivers were on the radio wondering why it wasn't happening, then it was even more safe on lap 56 when the marshalls had all left the run off area entirely. However, they didn't do this, until they eventually changed their minds and decided to apply the normal rules on lap 57 and let the lapped cars through. This meant that they had to compress things somewhat and have less of a gap between letting the lapped cars through and pulling the safety car in than they normally would, but this ultimately had zero impact on the outcome.

Not allowing the lapped cars past would have gone against all precedent. Not finishing the race under green flags when it's a 58 lap race and the blockage is completely clear on lap 56 would have gone against basic common sense in addition to going against the regulations that state that the race will be started when the clerk of the course deems the track safe. It would also have gone against a previous agreement among all teams that ending under a green flag should always be the priority call if it is safe to do so.

The only minor hiccup was the delay in letting the lapped cars through, but if they'd been allowed through a lap earlier when they should have been it would have had zero impact. A lot of the controversy on Sky was really just manufactured because their man lost. Safety cars are a part of F1. When a car crashes and stops on the racing line you absolutely expect a safety car, you expect the backmarkers to be cleared like normal, and you expect a return to racing if the incident is entirely clear two laps before the end of the race. Red Bull expected all of this, made the correct tactical choices, and Max executed perfectly with a superb overtake when the race restarted. It's as simple as that.

Max got lucky that Latifi crashed when he did certainly. It gave him an opportunity to gain 7 points (but only if he and the team executed on it perfectly, which they did). Lewis has gained more points than that from previous similar situations this season and if you managed to come up with some system that eliminated all possible advantages or disadvantages from safety cars and red flags and found a way to retroactively apply it across the whole season, Max would still be champion.

There are rules and they were followed. The race director used his discretion to get the last lap under green flag, something which all teams agreed beforehand would be preferable.

The race director wouldn't have such a decision to make if Latifi didn't bin it

has anyone seen the video from Toto Wolff. What a load of nonsense. Toto mentions wanting the Abu Dhabi GP result reinstated from Lap 57 in the interest of sporting fairness. So a decision made by the race director within the rules should be scrapped because Merc didnt win. Lewis is disillusioned and feels betrayed.

I really hope they get it badly wrong next season with the new regs

Well of they followed the rules (which you said you think they did) then the safety car would have come in the lap after they gave the order to unlap cars. But they broke those rules by bringing in the safety car on the same lap.

If they wanted to get the race underway as quickly as possible and finish on the green flag then they would have unlapped no cars and brought the safety car in and had one lap of racing.

If they wanted maximum showbiz drama, then they would take the unorthodox step of only unlapung the cars between max and Lewis, and then break the rule to bring in the safety car on the same lap. Which of these options did they choose?

Considering the physical demands of F1, suddenly the F1 driver unable to bring his car to the pits because of a headache? With no previous health complaints during the course of the race? This will be enough for this to be decided against Merc considering the rest of the circumstances.

Lewis a 10 place grid penalty in Bahrein for not showing up at the F1 gala .... How hilarious would that be ?

I agree it was stupid for them not to show up ... Breaking the rules have consequences

To be fair, an off track punishment would be a more appropriate punishment for an action taken off the track like this.

Like the off track punished dished out for on track offences at Jeddah?

No, there wasn't time to follow the normal procedure to allow all cars unlap themselves and bring in the safety car he following lap. So when they were pressed for time they o erode the normal procedures and allowed only the cars between max and Lewis to unlap and then overrode the normal rules to bring in the safety car on the same lap.

I think they didn't purely for the showbiz. Why do you think they did it?

If there was no time, then why did they let any cars unlap themselves?

They could have not unlapped any cars because they didn't have time. But instead they made the very unusual step of unlapping only the cars between Max and Lewis (which took more time than not unlapping any cars) and then took a second unusual step of bringing in the safety car on the same lap.

If it was all about getting to green flag, then why do you think they took the additionally time consuming step of unlapping the cars between max and Lewis?

I've said I think it was purely for showbiz. Why do you think they did it?

So do you think it was pure coincidence that they had time to unlap all the cars between max and Lewis, and no other cars? Nothing to do with the showbiz of the final lap shootout between the two title contenders?

Letting no cars unlap would have been unusual but it would have been consistent with your argument that there wasn't enough time to unlap everyone.

So are you suggesting it was complete coincidence that there only enough time to unlap exactly all the cars between the championship contenders. Not just enough time for any fewer cars and no time for any more cars. Just time for all the cars between them, and it was pure coincidence?

I'm not a Hamilton fan. But the 2 safety car decisions are not normal. They were all about showbiz. That's all. I don't think it was a pro or anti Hamilton decision.

I support max and I'm glad he won the championship. But the safety car decisions were very unusual. F1 is showbiz so it's probably fair enough that they make decisions for the entertainment.

If the same safety car decisions helped Lewis and he won instead, then those lads would be furious with the decisions.