How a fashion model accidentally ended the Canadian Grand Prix two laps early
Winnie Harlow caused the result to be taken from lap 68, not lap 70
The Canadian Grand Prix was accidentally cut short by two laps after the celebrity chosen to wave the chequered flag did it a lap earlier than she should have done.
Winnie Harlow, a Canadian model and close friend of Lewis Hamilton, was in the box over the finish line at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and waved the flag on lap 69 - before leader Sebastian Vettel came round to finish the race.
The Ferrari driver himself must have seen it happen on one of the TV screens that line the track as he got on the radio to tell them not to wave it until he was ready to cross the line.
They did indeed wave it again when Vettel came round, but because of F1's regulations, once the flag is shown the race result must be taken from the previous time the leader crossed the line, meaning the race actually ended on lap 68, not lap 70.
The regulation 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 [finishing] line before the signal was given.”
After the race Formula One chiefs were keen to stress that the issue was not Harlow's fault as she was given the flag at the wrong time. She also tweeted to make the same point:
Major controversy was avoided as none of the points scoring positions changed in the last two laps with Vettel leading home Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen for the podium placings.
But down the field there was bad news for Force India driver Sergio Perez who managed to battle past Kevin Magnussen in the Haas, only to be bumped back down to 14th because of the countback.
This odd incident has happened before - in China in 2014 and most famously in Brazil in 2002 when football legend Pele waved the flag early.
Some wags have suggested that given how this race was less than thrilling, perhaps Winnie Harlow was doing us all a favour by ending it early...
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Comments (25)
Pisses me right off, she’s only there to be seen , knows F.A about F1 and gets to wave the chequered flag! A fan from the crowd should be picked at random I think 🤔
With all the technology that goes into F1 they can’t find someone who can count to 70 to wave the flag???
It was the marshal at the finish line's job to tell her when to wave it so 🤷
If you're not an F1 fan, you just won't know what is really going on. She was clearly given the flag and told to wave it. She did. Not her fault. BUT you can argue about whether they should be getting random celebs to do this duty at all, given that it's not just a ceremonial thing - the result of the race literally changed in this case. Imagine if Bottas had overtaken Vettel on the last lap, but then lost out on the win? Would have been huge.
Don't make stuff up Rob, bottas was no where near to Vettel. 😂
Ha ha :)
She's right, it wasn't her fault. The marshalls shouldn't expect her to think for herself
Obviously she was given the order when to wave the flag.... perhaps everybody at the he box were sleeping due to the "thrilling wheel to wheel racing" they witnessed for 68 laps
By the he way ..does anyone know what cause is Mss Harlow activist for?....."Supermodel and Activist"
I think it’s to do with the work she has done to raise awareness of vitiligo