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Former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports analyst Martin Brundle has urged the FIA to revisit its safety car regulations after the British Grand Prix ended in deeply anticlimactic fashion at Silverstone.
The race appeared set for a tense final act, with Charles Leclerc leading in the closing laps and coming under pressure from a charging Kimi Antonelli. Instead, the contest was neutralised on lap 48 of 52 after four-time champion Max Verstappen became beached in the gravel at Stowe corner, triggering a late safety car.
What followed was not a sprint to the flag, but a procedural conclusion. The race finished under safety car conditions, leaving the crowd without the on-track resolution that had seemed to be building. For more on the wider debate around the spectacle of the finish, read our analysis of how David Coulthard urged the FIA to keep entertainment central after the British GP safety car finish.
The key issue, as Brundle highlighted in his post-race Sky Sports F1 column, was the unlapping process. On lap 51, race control allowed eligible lapped cars to pass the leaders. While that can be justified when conditions are safe, Brundle argued the mechanism inevitably stretches safety car periods, particularly on long circuits such as Silverstone and Spa.
Brundle wrote: “Providing it's considered safe, which on a dry sunny day with no people, debris, or stranded cars around the track it understandably was, the race director can allow eligible lapped cars to pass the leading pack and head off at a faster but safe speed.”
He added that the system was introduced to prevent backmarkers from interfering with the fight at the front and, at times, to bring lapped drivers back into contention. But in Brundle’s view, the trade-off is too costly when it prevents the leaders from racing.
“But the system is guaranteed to unduly prolong the safety car period, especially on long circuits like Silverstone and Spa,” he wrote.
Brundle suggested three alternatives. One would mirror IndyCar’s approach, where inside the final 10 laps lapped cars are sent through the pitlane and rejoin at the back rather than completing a wave-by. Another would simply require lapped runners to drop behind the pack. A third option would be a red flag and standing restart in race order, though Brundle acknowledged that this takes time.
His central criticism was clear: the current system risks prioritising drivers who have already fallen off the lead lap over the front-runners and, most importantly, the fans denied a racing finish.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.
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