The checkered flag of the Chinese Grand Prix waved too early!
The race stopped two laps before the finish due to a checkered flag error.
Lewis Hamilton must have been in disbelief when he saw the checkered flag accidentally waved even before starting the final lap! The Grand Prix was thus officially stopped at the end of the 54th lap out of the 56 scheduled.
The consequences on the standings could have been significant. The official results published by the FIA take into account the first deployment of the checkered flag and thus stop at the 54th lap, as stipulated by Article 43.2 of the FIA Sporting Regulations. « Whatever the reason, if the end-of-race signal is given before the leading car has completed the scheduled number of laps or the prescribed race time, the race will be considered finished at the moment the leader crosses the finish line for the last time before the signal was given. »
Kobayashi’s overtake of Bianchi for seventeenth place is therefore not considered in the standings. The Frenchman regains the seventeenth place. This is anecdotal as no points were at stake between Marussia and Caterham. If Ricciardo had overtaken Alonso in the final laps, the situation might have been different and the scandal significantly more flagrant.
It is worth noting that such an event has already occurred in Formula 1 during the 1978 Argentine Grand Prix. Juan-Manuel Fangio, who was supposed to wave the checkered flag, confused Ronnie Peterson’s Lotus, then in 5th place, with Mario Andretti’s, who was leading. The flag being waved on the 53rd lap meant that the results of the 52nd lap were taken into account.
