Software glitch! That’s why the Silverstone Grand Prix ended behind the safety car

For die-hard Formula 1 fans, the closing stages of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone brought back memories of the legendary 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi: there was a safety car period shortly before the end. A hasty overtaking procedure (“lapped cars may overtake the safety car”) was intended to re-order the field – but this time, there was no more free-flowing racing. The Silverstone race ended behind the safety car – even though the race control screens had actually announced that the safety car was due to come in and there was to be one more lap under green flag.

So why did the race end behind the safety car after all?

What happened? Let’s take it step by step: Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) went off at Stowe on lap 48 of 52 and ended up in the gravel trap. The safety car, driven by Bernd Mayländer, came onto the track, and the field reorganised itself as lapped cars overtook and closed the gap at the back. And then the timing screens and TV footage indicated that the safety car was coming in, meaning it would only be active for one more lap (“safety car in this lap”) – so there would be a restart for one lap. Abu Dhabi 2021 comes to mind. But shortly afterwards, the next message appeared: Safety car in operation. So no restart; the race finished under the safety car, meaning overtaking was prohibited. Leader Charles Leclerc therefore crossed the line as the winner.

Safety Car-Phase in Abu Dhabi 2021

Foto: LAT

The FIA, the world governing body, commented on the decision shortly afterwards: “The regulation governing the safety car phase, Article B5.13.5, states that one lap must be completed after the overtaking manoeuvre. Race control adhered to this procedure. The message ‘Safety Car on this lap’ was displayed incorrectly due to a software error.” So, once the lapped cars had caught up, there was still one lap to complete in the correct order before the restart – and then the 52 laps were already up. Extending the race distance is not an option, as the teams calculate their fuel loads based on the specified number of race laps.

The Silverstone circuit is almost 6 kilometres long: on the one hand, this helped the marshals to recover the stranded car without disruption. However, it also prolonged the recovery procedure. For a brief moment, it looked as though the recovery would be completed in time and the race would be restarted. Of course – for the sake of the excitement and the fans, one would want to avoid ending a race under the safety car because there is no more racing taking place. In Abu Dhabi in 2021, the overtaking procedure was therefore shortened, with just one more lap completed. A decision that is still much debated today. At Silverstone in 2026, the regulations were now implemented to the letter – and a software glitch caused a great deal of confusion along the way.

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