Former F1 boss makes red flag plea after British GP confusion

Former Formula 1 team boss Otmar Szafnauer has urged the FIA to red-flag races in the future, in a bid to improve the spectacle "for the fans". 

The British Grand Prix came to an anticlimactic close last week, when fans were denied a potentially spectacular final-lap shoot-out for victory by a regulation that means the safety car had to remain on track for an extra lap after allowing lapped cars to filter through.

As the signal was shown on the penultimate lap, this all but ended the race, although a glitch with the timing screen added to the confusion, as it was incorrectly announced that the safety car would be returning to the pit lane, which would have allowed that last-lap dash. 

Speaking on the High Performance Racing podcast, Szafnaurer said: "So they let everybody unlap themselves, and then you need an entire lap before you can restart the race. 

"Well, when they started unlapping themselves, there wasn't an entire lap left. So, they had her finish under the safety car. But, if you think, if they red-flagged it, one, you get more laps cause you're not doing a bunch of laps under the safety car. And two, everyone gets to put soft tyres on and then you have a sprint to the end."

Far from only venting his frustrations via the podcast, Szafnauer revealed how he had spoken to FIA race director Rui Marques to voice his alternative plan. 

"Sure, the FIA followed the current rules," he added. 

"But, you know, they have the option to red-flag it. They could have easily red-flagged that race. And you know, when I told him [Marques] that, he said, 'Red flag it for that?' I said, 'No, red flag it for the fans.' 

"And if you red flag it for the fans, you're doing nothing that contravenes the rules. So, there is a point where if you want to make it exciting at the end and you want to follow the rules, which you should, unlike in 2021, Red flag it."