The 2018 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix saw Sebastian Vettel retake the lead in the championship with a win; but barring the Hartley-Stroll crash, it was a fairly predictable race. However, the one blunder that has got everyone talking about the Canadian GP was its earlier than expected finish, quite literally. The chequered flag was out a lap earlier than scheduled, ending the race in 69 laps instead of 70. The miscommunication left everyone including the teams and drivers confused and while it may not have affected the final results, the incident robbed off Daniel Ricciardo of his fastest lap. So, what exactly went wrong? F1 has now spoken about the incident and revealed that all went down to miscommunication.
Also Read: F1: Sebastian Vettel Wins Canadian GP
Explaining the blunder, Formula 1 race director Charlie Whiting said there was a miscommunication between local officials and not an issue with celebrity Winnie Harlow waving the flag that led to the chequered flag being shown one lap early in the Canadian GP. The official at the start/finish stand, who is called the 'starter', thought that race leader Sebastian Vettel was on his final 70th lap. That's when he asked Canadian model Winnie Harlow to wave the flag, even though it was Ferrari driver's 69th lap.
undefinedWhen you tell @WinnieHarlow to wave the chequered flag too early
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 10, 2018
Miscommunications happen!#NoHarmDone pic.twitter.com/3uWCl6zMbG
The race marshalls too started waving the multiple flags as a sign of the race salute at the end of every race. Drivers, however, did race for an extra lap after the chequered flag was waved. The final results were initially listed at Lap 69 but subsequently went back to Lap 68.
Speaking on the issue, Charlie Whiting said, "The chequered flag was shown a lap early because of a miscommunication with the guy that they call the starter here, who starts and finishes the races. He thought it was the last lap, he asked race control to confirm it, they confirmed it, but they thought he was making a statement when he was asking a question. He just showed it a lap early, or he told the flag waver to show it a lap early, so it wasn't anything to do with the fact that it was a celebrity flag waver."
undefined“IT WASNT ME” *Shaggy Voice* when they tell you to wave the flag a lap too early but I’m so grateful no one was hurt! @F1 pic.twitter.com/2wBmH3SDOP
— ♔Winnie Harlow♔ (@winnieharlow) June 10, 2018
Whiting further explained that the starter was probably misled by the TV graphics that notes the lap that the leader is on, instead of the total laps completed. This could have created the confusion for the race official. F1 deals with multiple people from different countries and languages, so there's bound to be some error with communicating. That said, the F1 race director said better communication and briefing would be enough to rectify the issue going forward.
"Of course we strive for perfection. Fortunately, there was no real harm done, insofar as it didn't affect the result of the race," Whiting said. We are sure Ricciardo would beg to differ.
However, this isn't an isolated incident. A similar issue happened during the Chinese GP a few years ago but fortunately did not affect the final standings of the race.
