The late-race safety car issues F1 still needs to fix to move on from Abu Dhabi

OPINION: Formula 1’s safety car rules were thankfully followed in full at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, but the situation reignited the controversy of the ending to the 2021 campaign in Abu Dhabi and left neutral fans without a teased grandstand finish. This then, is the perfect time to discuss alternatives to a much-maligned situation

Alex Kalinauckas Sep 13, 2022, 12:52 PM

Upd: Sep 13, 2022, 1:17 PM

Who would’ve thought that just nine months after the most controversial ending to a Formula 1 championship since Jerez 1997 some people are still mightily pissed off?

Lewis Hamilton said he was “not angry” about the safety car conclusion to the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, but then went on to reveal that the wound opened by the 2021 Abu Dhabi race ending farce ultimately still festers.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.