One lap after the crash between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, the FIA decided to stop the race completely with a red flag. This allowed Lewis Hamilton to get his Mercedes repaired after the crash and hunt for Charles Leclerc with a clean sheet. Michael Masi now reveals what was the reason behind the red flag.
"Firstly, the tyre pile-up had to be repaired again. To help everyone involved, we had the opportunity to interrupt the race and in this case that was the right response to this particular event," Masi explained in conversation with Motorsport-Total.com.
Damage to Verstappen causes confusion
Because Hamilton was able to repair his damage under the red flag, rumour had it that the FIA introduced the red flag for a reason to give Hamilton another chance. Masi, however, rejects these rumours and explains that there was also another reason behind the decision to interrupt the race.
"Max's car had an error in the telemetry. The team and we at the FIA did not have the opportunity to confidently determine the ERS status of the car. Although the warning light on the car was green, we wanted to play it safe and so we sent two Red Bull staff to the crash to make sure the car was safe before we started towing it away," Masi concluded.