Brundle accuses FIA of denying Silverstone crowd a proper finish after safety car blunder

Martin Brundle has called out the FIA over the conclusion of the 2026 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, insisting race control had no regulatory obligation to keep the safety car out until all lapped cars had rejoined the back of the field — and that the crowd was left short-changed as a result.

The race ended under caution after the safety car was deployed on lap 48 when Max Verstappen spun into the gravel at Stowe. Race leader Charles Leclerc and Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton both pitted under the safety car, while Mercedes’ George Russell stayed out to inherit second position. With the chequered flag approaching, lapped cars were instructed to unlap themselves and the ‘Safety Car In This Lap’ message appeared on lap 51 — only for the safety car to remain on track regardless, denying the Silverstone crowd a green-flag finale.

“I am hoping there is a separate reason for not pitting the safety car and not just a change of mind, or a mistake, not to bring it in,” Brundle said. “We were all denied a proper end to the grand prix.”

Brundle argued that the purpose of allowing backmarkers to unlap themselves is to prevent them from interfering with the leaders — not to require the field to wait for them to complete the full journey back to the rear of the pack. “When they are half a Silverstone lap away, they are not going to get in the way with one lap to go,” he said. “You don’t have to wait for them all to plod around to the back.”

He also pointed to the specific wording of the FIA’s own regulations to support his case. “The regulations say ‘if the race director considers it safe for them to do so’ — and it was safe, it was a dry day, no debris,” Brundle explained. “It then goes on to say ‘having overtaken the F1 cars on the lead lap, the safety car will extinguish its lights’. It doesn’t say they have to be back of the queue. There’s nothing to say you have to wait until they have arrived at the back — it just says they have to proceed at a reasonable speed.”

The FIA subsequently issued a statement citing Article B5.13.5 of the safety car period regulations, which states that one lap must be completed following the unlapping procedure before the safety car can be withdrawn. Brundle had acknowledged the possibility of a separate procedural reason, saying: “Maybe something else happened” — but his broader challenge to the FIA’s approach, and the show element lost by not delivering a racing finish, is unlikely to go away quickly.