The McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo being stuck in gear was the culprit behind the longer-than-anticipated safety car period that led to the anti-climactic Italian Grand Prix finish, Formula 1’s governing body the FIA has revealed.
Ricciardo parked his ailing McLaren between the two Lesmo corners on lap 47, and the safety car was called out soon after the end of lap 48.
It would only be removed at the end of the final lap, lap 53, meaning no more actual racing took place – much to the chagrin of second-placed Charles Leclerc, who was vocal on the radio in saying the track was clear.
The handling of the safety car period also came under fire after the race from the likes of Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto and even Red Bull boss Christian Horner, despite his driver Max Verstappen taking the win.
“While every effort was made to recover Car #3 quickly and resume racing, the situation developed and marshals were unable to put the car into neutral and push it into the escape road,” a subsequent FIA statement read.
“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.”
Having that information prompted a much more sympathetic response from the likes of Verstappen and Mercedes driver George Russell in the post-race driver press conference.
“From what I understood, the car was stuck in gear and that’s why it took so long,” Verstappen said. “When the car’s parked there, there is no gap to push the car into compared to some other places.
“That’s why the crane had to come, that’s why I guess they just ran out of time. I guess it was very unfortunate.
“I think everyone wants to finish under green flag, but yeah, unfortunately, we were just short of laps. I had new softs as well, so I was not too worried if it was a one-lap shootout.”
“This is racing, I think,” Russell added. “It’s not always easy when a car stops in an awkward place. We always want to end the race under green flag, but what can you do? It’s just how the game goes.
“I don’t know what the race picture looked like – but I don’t think it would’ve changed the results, in my opinion.”
