Yuki Tsunoda was not allowed past the safety car during the Brazilian Grand Prix as a rear driver during the final safety car situation. This is due to an anomaly in the FIA system. The motorsport federation announces.

When the safety car almost went in, it was reported that Nicholas Latifi and Alexander Albon were allowed to pass the cars in front, but Tsunoda, who was driving between the Williams drivers, was not. The FIA itself now explains that the situation occurred due to an anomaly in the system. "All systems functioned correctly according to the rules. The unusual situation came up as a result of the peculiarities of this circuit," reads the FIA statement, quoted by Motorsport.com. It now appears to be the case that car 22 was the first to pass safety car line one when the safety car entered the track, causing it to do so a lap later. Normally, the system knows that he is then allowed to clear a lap behind.

Confused

Then a pit stop by Tsunoda confused the system. However, he drove into the pit lane, but at a faster speed than the cars behind the safety car. As a result, he disposed of a lap deficit until he passed the control line. When he then re-entered the track, the system correctly indicated he was again a lap behind, but as he had already passed the leader once, he was no longer eligible to do so again. "Race control checked if it was correct and confirmed that only cars 6 and 23 were allowed to overtake the field," explained the FIA.

However, the motorsport federation says the event will not trigger any urgent action. "This is a very unusual scenario, because there were no errors in the system or procedure, this is something unpredictable that can happen, and no immediate changes need to be made for that." They finally indicated that it would be discussed at the Sporting Advisory Committees in the future, though, as part of looking back at normal procedures.