[Skam85]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Just for context on this, noting that when there has appeared to be a lengthy SC period, the race is regularly Red-flagged:

- Safety Cars have only been an official part of F1 since 1993.

- In the same period five races were ended under Red Flag, after the SC was called more than 5 laps before the scheduled distance.

- In the same period five races were resumed after a Red Flag, following a late SC deployment.

So in actuality, we should be saying that - since 1993, roughly 20 races have seen late Safety Cars called where they were then either concluded under the Safety Car or were Red Flagged. Of these 30 races, on only one occasion has the Race Director deviated from the prescribed use of the Safety Car as outlined in the Regulations.

Therefore, Mercedes were on the wrong end of what is in hindsight a 1/20 gamble, betting against a situation that had occurred 0/19 times previously.

A red flag isn't based on how many laps the safety car is out though, nor how many laps from the end.

A red flag is purely based on the safety of the circuit.