Formula One drivers admitted that during the late safety car at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, they were puzzled by the “strange” and “made for television” decoupling procedure.
The race management initially said that lapped cars should not overtake, but then announced that those between the leaders Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen would have to overtake the Mercedes driver before the race resumes.
Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel – who were in places seven to eleven – all had to pass.
This allowed Verstappen to close Hamilton for the restart, which took place at the end of that round. The Dutchman then overtook Hamilton in the final sprint from one lap to the finish line, aided by his fresh soft tires, to take the race win and title.
The unusual approach that Mercedes protested against after the race surprised the drivers.
“I didn’t know it was just like the first three or four [actually five] up to Max, ”said Norris. “So it was obviously a fight, it was for the television, of course, it was for the result. I can’t decide whether it was fair or not.
“Sometimes they let you go, sometimes they don’t. Half the time it’s only 50/50. But they said they won’t let us pass I’m not going to let us pass at all. But then suddenly only for the last lap and for a shootout to drive around one lap, then I’m a bit surprised. “
“When the safety car was out, I thought we could overtake quickly because that usually happens,” said Alonso. “You see the green light on the safety car and then you lap yourself until they remove the car.
“But we didn’t get the green signal, and then two laps later the engineer told me that you could not lap yourself and that the positions would stay that way.
“A corner later the green light came on and I said, ‘But we have the green light?’ And they said, ‘Yeah, yeah, you can do it now, follow Norris.’ And I followed Norris. So it was probably a bit confusing. “
“It was a little weird for me because I was a little bit in the middle of nowhere,” said Leclerc. “I think we were only able to overtake the leaders one lap before the restart and we were in the middle of nowhere.
“I just fought for ninth place with Esteban, I think, just a little ahead. But first I was told that I couldn’t unlap, in the end we actually got the chance to unlap at the last moment. So yeah, it was a bit strange. “
The Safety Car Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M
Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images
Vettel said he got the message late: “Very late, but I think too late, they should let us pass as usual,” said the German.
“And of course you have the guys fighting up front. So all you have to do is clear the way. I don’t know what it was. It was a shame for us because we didn’t have a race back then because everything was distributed. “
After the aforementioned cars were let by, the next lapped car – Daniel Ricciardo’s – had to wait behind Hamilton and Verstappen, followed by Lance Stroll and third placed Carlos Sainz.
“I was confused because I got the message that they were not going to overtake,” said the McLaren driver.
“Through my head I was like, ‘That seems fine’ I think fair because Lewis had such a head start and Max has newer tires, he’ll have to cut a few cars that way if they want to do the restart . ” Run.
“Then I saw some cars overtake, so I asked, ‘What should I do, am I overtaking?’ and then I think Tom [Stallard] said ‘No, you have to stay here.’
“So I literally have seats in the front row for the last lap. And I’m on a new soft or a newer soft too, so I thought, ‘Can I get both of them?’ Nah, just kidding. To be honest, I’m a little speechless, I don’t know what to think of it. I really don’t. I have to see how it came about. “
“It was certainly a very strange situation for me,” said Sainz. “Because I’m with Valtteri. obviously fought for a podium [Bottas] and some AlphaTauris in the back with a medium tire while on a very used Hart.
“In the beginning I was told that you, the people in front of me, shouldn’t reveal yourself. Then it was decided to self-unlap and some people did self-unlap, but there was still, I think it was an Aston Martin and a McLaren from [Daniel] Ricciardo, between the two leaders and me.
“And I’ve never had that before, having to restart the race with these two guys in front of me and fighting for a P3. So I think it was weird and maybe something to look at because it was very weird to see and it honestly almost cost me my podium. “
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