Chaotic end to Italian Grand Prix leads to difference of opinion at Mercedes.

As the field proceeded behind the Safety Car to the chequered flag, Lewis Hamilton couldn't help but feel that had the same rule been applied last December he would have had an eighth world title.

With Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren 'parked' between the two Lesmos and stuck in gear, marshals had to wait on a recovery vehicle to move it, and all the time the lap remaining count was ticking down.

The FIA subsequently justified the decision to not stopping the race and restarting it.

"While every effort was made to recover car number three quickly and resume racing, the situation developed and marshals were unable to put the car into neutral and push it into the escape road," said a spokesperson for the sport's governing body.

"As the safety of the recovery operation is our only priority, and the incident was not significant enough to require a red flag, the race ended under Safety Car following the procedures agreed between the FIA and all competitors. The timing of the Safety Car period within a race has no bearing on this procedure."

Had the same procedure been adopted in Abu Dhabi following Nicholas Latifi's crash, Hamilton, who was leading the field at the time, would have claimed his eighth title.

At that time, race director, Michael Masi, contrary to the rules, gave the green light for one final lap of racing, at the start of which the Briton was overtaken by Max Verstappen.

"It always brings memories back," Hamilton told Sky Sports at race end. "That is the rule that it should be, right? So only one time, in the history of the sport that they haven't done the rule."

However, for once, team boss Toto Wolff didn't agree with his driver.

"It's very clear," said the Austrian. "There are rules and they are written down, and from my perspective, whether I'm Abu Dhabi traumatized or not, these rules have been followed to the dot today.

"There was a car out on track, there were marshals and a crane out there. That's why they didn't let anybody overtake.

"Then it was not enough time to restart the race once all cars crashed out.

"If one is not happy with the regulations, and you want to have a big-bang show and two laps of racing and mayhem, I think I'm absolutely up for it," he added. "But then we need to change the regulations. So I don't think we should complain about anything that happened because this is the rules."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Monza here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Spindoctor, 15/09/2022 13:53

"What we're seeing is a contradiction between Safety & "spectacle". Once there was a car stuck in a dangerous place, a Safety car was inevitable; anything else would have been courting disaster. The Race was "spoilt", but then they usually are when a SC is required but most importantly, nobody was endangered or hurt.

That's not to say that the current SC procedure is necessarily the best solution to the problem of on-track breakdowns & crashes. Modern cars & racing might well have different requirements to those currently embodied in the Rules.
Let's have a full review of the procedures for dealing with these circumstances, taking into account the interests of all, but with Safety as the prime consideration."

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2. Posted by MossMan, 15/09/2022 12:07

"@ kenji: " When any GP reaches a period of 5 laps from completion any need to call for either a virtual safety car or a full safety car then the race is red flagged. Once cleared the race can then be restarted" - surely that is just begging for secondary drivers to 'accidentally' have an off, thereby allowing their principal teammate to have another go at overtaking a rival during the restart...?! It would happen all the time as it's way too open to abuse, if you ask me.

It reminds me that there are (were?) already rules for calling the result after weather or red-flag incidents beyond a certain percentage race distance or time. That would seem to conflict with this idea of a one or two lap restart."

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3. Posted by kenji, 14/09/2022 11:55

"@ Chester...Errrrr... you can 'live' in the past but you can only die in the future! That said I fully agree with the ' 'get over Abu Dhabi'. comment. It's boring. "

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4. Posted by Chester, 14/09/2022 10:31

"Life happens. Some races end with safety cars and some in with red flags. Get over it! And stop re-visiting Abu Dhabi. If you want to live in the past, you die in the past."

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5. Posted by kenji, 14/09/2022 1:53

"The rules certainly need a revisit. To have a GP finish under a safety car is not, IMO, a satisfactory conclusion. Maybe something like the following could be considered. When any GP reaches a period of 5 laps from completion any need to call for either a virtual safety car or a full safety car then the race is red flagged. Once cleared the race can then be restarted on a grid formation for the final 5 laps to race conclusion. I would also add that under this scheme with no allowances for pitting and fitting new tyres under the red flag would spice it up plus not give any unfair advantages to other teams not featuring in the pre red flag track position. I was massively disappointed in the race on Sunday and felt as though maybe I should've gone to bed and read the results on Monday. Something that i would never ever have considered before!"

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6. Posted by atlanta fan, 13/09/2022 20:55

"Don't agree that Monza Finish was a "mess". Monza finish was handled per the rules that have governed F1 for decades, in other words, Buy the Book. Just because your driver doesn't benefit does not mean somebody messed up. Now if you want to have a discussion about change the rules, that's another subject, "

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7. Posted by Pavlo, 13/09/2022 20:24

"But in fact the rules were NOT followed in Monza! According to the rules, SC must catch the leader, not someone in front. This mistake costed them one lap to let “not lapped cars” get to the position, and additionally Max was travelling at VSC speed instead of SC. So had they applied rules correctly, they would have at least one, maybe even 2 racing laps.
Alternatively, if SC would pick the wrong car in AbuDhabi, there would be no chance for the racing lap.

Another observation - Max and RB had a strategy that allowed a pit under SC. And they managed not to leave such option for Lewis in AbuDhabi. One can blame the FIA, but frankly it’s anyway possible to win by yourself."

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8. Posted by gasconboy, 13/09/2022 7:07

"Here is a thought at Le Mans now when there is an incident the area becomes a yellow zone. it enables marshals to remove damaged cars repair barriers etc, so just this area is subject to 80 kph and no overtaking, then racing continues on rest of lap. OK I know it is a longer circuit but surely something like this is preferable to a complete stoppage of racing and a most unsatisfactory finish. "

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9. Posted by Spindoctor, 12/09/2022 18:01

"sorry but I don't see how Wolff is "disagreeing" with Hamilton. Both acknowledged that the rules had been followed at Monza, but Hamilton is correct to point-out that they weren't at Abu Dahbi. Indeed in interview Hamilton expressed some relief that things had been done "properly" as he reckoned (sheepishly, maybe correctly) that had they done an Abu Dhabi he might have lost a place or two..
"

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10. Posted by dejan, 12/09/2022 17:44

"Based on the comments above Toto Wolf agrees with Lewis Hamilton regarding the rules and how they've been applied at Monza.

If the difference is what the rules could be (or should be) then that's up for debate - but both Wolf and Hamilton agree that everything at Monza was OK"

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11. Posted by prime, 12/09/2022 10:50

"Mercedes is slowly but surely becoming the status symbol of a rich but hurt man who can't forget a hurtful past and move on to a new happy life."

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12. Posted by Motorsport-fan, 12/09/2022 8:48

"I am still at a loss as to why the lapped cars have to pass and do a complete lap to catch up, all they have to do is pull to one side in unison and rejoin at the tail of the field."

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13. Posted by Anthony, 12/09/2022 8:39

"Sensible words from Toto"

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Monza mess evokes memories of Abu Dhabi at Mercedes

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