After Lewis Hamilton appeared to be on course to claim his eighth world title, the race was turned on its head when Williams driver Nicholas Latifi crashed at the exit of the hotel complex on lap 53 of the 58 lap race and a safety Car triggered.
The safety car situation meant that Max Verstappen pitted for soft tires, while Hamilton held out on his crazy hards.
With a winner-takes-all title fight going on, it was in Red Bull’s interest to restart the race – and that without the intervention of lapped cars that were on the track between Verstappen and Hamilton.
When Masi issued a notice stating “Cars that have been lapped are not allowed to overtake,” it seemed as if Red Bull’s hopes would not be fulfilled as he was unlikely to evacuate the lapped cars in time.
On the penultimate lap, however, the situation changed dramatically when Masi felt the track was safe enough to allow some backmarkers to be overtaken.
But it was the way this was handled and the instant restart that upset Mercedes.
The Aston Martin Vantage Safety Car
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Safety car rules
Mercedes’ protest is based on two regulations: Article 48.12 and Article 48.8 of the F1 Sports Regulations.
Article 48.12 addresses the situation where backmarkers are self-unlapping.
Initially, Masi had the right to declare that “Cars overtaken are not allowed to overtake” – which meant that Verstappen would be trapped behind five markings before he could attack Hamilton.
On the penultimate lap, however, on the descent to Turn 9, Masi sent a message that five cars – Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel – could unload.
The decision to allow only some lapped vehicles to lap themselves is unusual as Article 48.12 suggests that the message “EXCLUDED CARS CAN NOW OVEROVA” should be sent to all participants.
It is then explicitly regulated when the race can be restarted.
It says: “Unless the race director deems the presence of the safety car to be necessary, the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap as soon as the last lapped car has passed the leader.
“If the race director is of the opinion that the track conditions are unsuitable for overtaking, the message” OVERTAKING WILL NOT BE PERMITTED “will be sent to all participants via the official messaging system.”
This clause suggests that after the report about the lapped car came out on lap 57, the restart could only take place at the end of the ‘following lap’ – that is, on lap 58, which was the end of the race.
Article 48.8 relates to overtaking behind the safety car.
During the restart phase, when Hamilton and Verstappen were preparing to restart the race, it looked on board that the Red Bull had just hit the Mercedes.
The rule states: “No driver is allowed to overtake another car on the track, including the safety car, until he passes the line (see Article 5.3 – the safety car line) for the first time after the safety car is in the box has returned. “
Both matters will now be dealt with in the FIA police station on Sunday night, with the championship fight ending under a cloud.
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