The British Grand Prix on July 5 had the right chaotic recipe to entertain F1 fans. Though Charles Leclerc triumphed after leading all laps and winning his first race in 623 days, the race's confusing ending had everybody baffled, right from the commentators to the drivers and fans.

On Thursday, media day ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, Leclerc addressed how the race ended under a safety car despite the FIA stewards confirming before the final lap that there would be a one-lap shootout to decide the outcome.

Before highlighting his disappointment with the ending, he acknowledged that the FIA did what was right for safety.

"I was very happy about the ending at Silverstone, but I think most people will argue that it’s not a nice way to finish a Formula 1 race," Leclerc said (via fia.com). "Safety needs to be the most important thing in those moments. I feel like there will always be some people unhappy about the way something is managed."

The Ferrari driver then expressed his disappointment about how ending a race under the safety car is never good for the spectacle.

"It’s true that it’s always a shame to finish a race under the safety car. I didn’t fully understand why. I think there was a rule that says that once the cars are unlapped, you need to wait one more lap. This is maybe something we can look into," he added.

The safety car was brought out after Max Verstappen, who was in podium contention in the closing stages of the race, spun out and beached his RB22 in the sand after the rear wing malfunctioned.

On the penultimate lap, the stewards allowed lapped cars to pass the safety car and get back onto the lead lap. However, per the rules, the safety car has to stay on the track for one lap after that happens. As a result, the race ended under the safety car, despite the stewards initially notifying commentators that it would not.

Liam Lawson echoes Charles Leclerc with NASCAR example

Liam Lawson, who was sitting alongside Charles Leclerc in Thursday's FIA press conference, also addressed the British GP ending. He gave the example of what NASCAR does in case of late yellows/caution periods.

NASCAR never ends races under caution. It adds two more laps to the race length, sending it into "overtime". Touching upon this practice, Lawson said:

"I think maybe in NASCAR they can’t finish under the safety car, or they always do one more lap. They pause or something like that with a lap to go, or they just add a lap. I don’t know if we could do that.

"Obviously, we have fuel levels and stuff like that to manage. But it’s a shame to end a race like that under safety car. I think if there’s a way that we don’t do that, that would be great."

Either way, the British GP is behind them. Heading into Belgium, battery usage and recharging will be in focus again, with the long straights of the Spa de Francorchamps demanding power.

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Written by

Yash Kotak

Edited by

Yash Kotak