The FIA said Sunday that the message saying the safety car would come in at the end of the British Grand Prix "was displayed erroneously due to a software error."
Silverstone's race finished in farcical circumstances when Max Verstappen's late spin triggered the safety car with six laps left.
As the laps ticked down and Verstappen's car was successfully removed from the Stowe gravel bed, lapped cars were then told they were allowed to overtake the pack and rejoin the lead lap, as the regulations state.
FIA race control then stated the safety car would return to the pits with one lap to go, raising the tantalizing prospect of a one-lap charge to the finish line.
However, when safety car driver Bernd Marylander approached the pit lane at the end of the race, he stayed out -- meaning Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took the checkered flag under safety car conditions at reduced speed.
The FIA later released a statement saying: "The Safety Car period regulation, Article B5. 13.5, states that one lap must be completed following the unlapping procedure. This process was followed by Race Operations. The 'Safety Car In This Lap' message was displayed erroneously due to a software error."
Curiously, the regulation itself is worded slightly differently, stating: "a. Except under Article B5.13.4c, the Safety Car shall be used at least until the leader is behind it and all remaining F1 Cars are queued behind them.
"b. Unless the Race Director considers the presence of the Safety Car remains necessary, once the message 'LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE' has been sent to all Competitors in accordance with Article B5.13.4c, the Safety Car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap."
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An FIA controversy related to the safety car procedure will remind fans of one of the most infamous moments of the sport's recent past.
The race director overseeing it on Sunday, Rui Marques, replaced the tandem of Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas, who were brought in to do the job after Michael Masi was fired following a safety-car-related blunder at the end of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
On that occasion, Masi forced a restart without properly following the restart procedure, leading to a one-lap championship decider between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
