Martin Brundle and Jenson Button clash over British Grand Prix ending

Sunday’s race finale was greeted by boos from the record Silverstone home crowd, all because of a miscommunication.

Max Verstappen crashed out in dramatic scenes with four laps to go through no fault of his own, and a safety car was called out that only came in when it was too late.

However, the crowd, and those watching at home, had every right to be annoyed as a ‘safety car in this lap’ message was erroneously shown, leading viewers to anticipate one stellar final lap of racing.

Yet heading round the last section of the track for the second-to-last time, safety car driver Bernd Maylander stayed out, triggering a furious response.

This is far from the first time an F1 race has ended under a safety car, robbing fans of late entertainment.

Conversely, in the 2021 season finale, it was infamously pulled in too early, leading to the epic one-lap shootout where Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to his first title.

As such, experts are discussing how repeats can be avoided, and 2009 champion Jenson Button responded to a question about looking to the United States where IndyCar and NASCAR allow extra laps:

His compatriot and fellow presenter, Martin Brundle, didn’t agree though, saying there shouldn’t be any caveats to stopping the problem. He wrote in his Sky column: