+1 exactly as I understand this.mbvinnie wrote:So, do the FIA regulations give any way to actually differentiate between the following two scenarios?
1) The race is finishing under safety car conditions (rule 40.13 applies)
2) The safety car coming in during the final lap of a race under rule 40.11 (rule 40.13 does not apply)
To me, this is where the green flags, the notice to teams that SC was 'in this lap' and the lack of SC boards indicate that the race was once again live and NOT finishing under SC (unlike the Aussie GP in '09).
It may be that they meant to finish it under SC, but it is certainly not what they indicated to the drivers/teams/fans, and I think kudos to Mercedes for getting this one right.
Last year this case did not exist yet and it would not have mattered if they showed whatever flag as the race would have gone green at the same place and time as the checkered flag was waved .Now they introduced the one case that the race got green although the last lap was under SC.