Otmar Szafnauer has urged the FIA to start red-flagging races for the fans’ sake after an anticlimactic end to the 2026 Formula 1 British Grand Prix.
The 52-lap race at Silverstone, last week, ended under the Safety Car, with Charles Leclerc bagging his first win of 2026, followed by George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
Max Verstappen suffered a high-speed spin, at Stowe, beaching his RB22 in the gravel trap and calling Bernd Maylander into action, in the dying phases of the race.
It had been decided that the cars would follow the Safety Car and take the chequered flag, but confusion ensued when the timing screens erroneously displayed the ‘Safety Car in this lap’ message on Lap 51, prompting the fans to expect a last lap dash on the restart which never came.
This prompted Szafnauer to urge the FIA to re-think its late-race procedures, with the former Alpine Team Principal reasoning that red-flagging the race would go a long way in maintaining the spectacle for the fans.
“So they let everybody unlap themselves, and then you need an entire lap before you can restart the race,” he said on the High Performance podcast.
“Well, when they started unlapping themselves, there wasn’t an entire lap left. So, they had her finish under the safety car.
“But, if you think, if they red-flagged it, one, you get more laps cause you’re not doing a bunch of laps under the safety car. And two, everyone gets to put soft tyres on and then you have a sprint to the end.”
Otmar Szafnauer reveals FIA reaction to red flag advice after F1 British GP
Ferrari were on course for a 1-2 finish at Silverstone, before the Safety Car confusion allowed Russell to jump Hamilton, who, running in second, had opted to pit for a set of Soft tyres expecting a restart.
That said, in all fairness, Race Director Rui Marques had followed the rule-book to the tee.
However, Szafnauer insisted that red-flagging a late-race incident instead of calling out the Safety Car would still be within the rules, with the added advantage of preserving the racing action for the fans.
In fact, he revealed how he had already counselled Marques, after the race. “Sure, the FIA followed the current rules,” Szafnauer added.
“But, you know, they have the option to red-flag it. They could have easily red-flagged that race.
“And you know, when I told him [Marques] that, he said, ‘Red flag it for that?’ I said, ‘No, red flag it for the fans.’
“And if you red flag it for the fans, you’re doing nothing that contravenes the rules. So, there is a point where if you want to make it exciting at the end and you want to follow the rules, which you should, unlike in 2021, Red flag it.”
Heading into the race weekend at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps, for the Belgian GP, next weekend, the FIA has a lot of food for thought courtesy of Szafnauer.
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