Wolff wishes Abu Dhabi 2021 had been handled like Silverstone's safety car finish

Toto Wolff has praised the FIA for correctly applying safety car regulations at the 2025 British Grand Prix, joking that he wished the same procedures had been followed during the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi finale that cost Mercedes the world championship.

The British Grand Prix at Silverstone ended behind the safety car, drawing boos from the grandstands — a reaction partly fuelled by a communication error. Timing screens briefly displayed the message “Safety Car ending”, which the FIA later confirmed was caused by a software issue and should never have appeared. The governing body clarified that the correct procedures had been followed throughout, specifically Article B5.13.5, which requires one additional lap to be completed after the unlapping procedure before the safety car can return to the pits.

Those procedures were tightened in the wake of Abu Dhabi 2021, when then-race director Michael Masi controversially allowed only the five lapped cars between title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to overtake the safety car before restarting the race on the final lap — a decision that ultimately handed Verstappen the drivers’ championship.

“I would have preferred for this to happen in 2021. That was more important,” Wolff joked when speaking to the written media. “But it’s good that the regulations have been followed.”

The Mercedes team principal acknowledged that a late restart would have produced a more dramatic conclusion, but was firm that sporting integrity must take precedence over spectacle.

“Sometimes it doesn’t give for the most exciting final. Certainly from a spectacle standpoint, everybody would have loved to see Lewis on a soft against us and maybe fighting with Leclerc,” Wolff said. “But this is a sport. The show follows the sport, and not the other way around. So it’s good that the FIA made that call.”

The safety car finish ultimately worked in Mercedes’ favour. While Ferrari brought Hamilton in for fresh tyres late in the race, Mercedes kept George Russell out to protect track position, securing him second place and 18 championship points.

Russell echoed his team boss’s view, arguing that race control should apply safety car rules consistently regardless of where in the race they occur. “Of course it’s a shame for any race to finish behind the safety car,” the British driver said. “But then you go back to Abu Dhabi 2021, and that is just not how the rules should work.”