20/04/2014
NEWS STORY
Results from the Chinese Grand Prix have been taken back to the end of the fifty-fourth lap after the chequered flag was shown to Lewis Hamilton a lap early in error.
As Hamilton began his final lap he radioed to his team stating that he’d seen the chequered flag as he crossed the line after the flag marshal incorrectly waved the Mercedes home a lap early.
The relatively simple error has however changed the outcome of the race results, since according to the Sporting Regulations should the flag be shown early or incorrectly for any reason the final race results are taken from when the leader crossed the line prior to the flag being shown.
Though the error has little impact on the race results as far as the points scorers are concerned, it did impact on Kamui Kobayashi after the Japanese driver passed Jules Bianchi in a last-ditched effort on the final lap. However, with results having been taken from the end of the fifty-fourth lap the official standings will show Bianchi ahead of Kobayashi.
"I thought I was starting my last lap and I glanced up and saw something waving, and realised it was the chequered flag," said Hamilton after the race. "I lifted and lost about a second-and-a-half but the team said 'no, no, keep going'.
"They told me the race stopped there," he added. "If the radio had failed and I had slowed down and Nico came past, that would have really sucked. Thank God, it didn't."
Reports that the flag error is linked to the F1 Live Timing app, which is proving increasingly erratic and unreliable, remain unconfirmed.
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