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Chinese GP: Chequered flag error means race declared on lap 54

A mistake with the chequered flag at the Chinese Grand Prix has resulted in the distance of round four of the 2014 Formula 1 season being shortened

Lewis Hamilton was shown the chequered flag at the end of lap 55 - one lap before it was supposed to have been displayed.

F1's regulations state that if the chequered flag is shown early, then the race will be deemed to have finished the lap before.

Article 43.2 of F1's sporting regulations states: "Should for any reason the end-of-race signal be given before the leading car completes the scheduled number of laps, or the prescribed time has been completed, the race will be deemed to have finished when the leading car last crossed the line before the signal was given."

That means that the Chinese GP was declared to have finished on lap 54 of the 56 that actually ran.

Speaking about the chequered flag incident, Hamilton said: "That was very strange. I was thinking 'am I seeing things?'

"I looked up, I was coming across the line expecting to do another lap and all of a sudden I looked for a split second and I saw the flag.

"I lifted for a second and I saw there was no one on the wall, so then I just kept going.

"I did lose a second or so. I asked the team, they said no, so I just kept going.

"Very, very strange. It was good to do another lap."

The changed distance did not alter any of the points-scoring positions but it did result in Caterham's Kamui Kobayashi being relegated to 18th, having pulled off a late move on Jules Bianchi's Marussia for 17th.

Revised results - 54 laps:

Pos  Driver             Team/Car                  Time/Gap
 1.  Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes              1h33m28.338s
 2.  Nico Rosberg       Mercedes                  +18.062s
 3.  Fernando Alonso    Ferrari                   +23.604s
 4.  Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull-Renault          +27.136s
 5.  Sebastian Vettel   Red Bull-Renault          +47.778s
 6.  Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes      +54.295s
 7.  Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes         +55.697s
 8.  Kimi Raikkonen     Ferrari                 +1m16.335s
 9.  Sergio Perez       Force India-Mercedes    +1m22.647s
10.  Daniil Kvyat       Toro Rosso-Renault          +1 lap
11.  Jenson Button      McLaren-Mercedes            +1 lap
12.  Jean-Eric Vergne   Toro Rosso-Renault          +1 lap
13.  Kevin Magnussen    McLaren-Mercedes            +1 lap
14.  Pastor Maldonado   Lotus-Renault               +1 lap
15.  Felipe Massa       Williams-Mercedes           +1 lap
16.  Esteban Gutierrez  Sauber-Ferrari              +1 lap
17.  Jules Bianchi      Marussia-Ferrari            +1 lap
18.  Kamui Kobayashi    Caterham-Renault            +1 lap
19.  Max Chilton        Marussia-Ferrari           +2 laps
20.  Marcus Ericsson    Caterham-Renault           +2 laps

Retirements:

     Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Renault              28 laps
     Adrian Sutil       Sauber-Ferrari              5 laps

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