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F1 fans call on sport to 'Void Lap 58' after controversy at the Italian GP weekend

Home> Formula 1

Updated 18:03 11 Sep 2022 GMT+1Published 17:35 11 Sep 2022 GMT+1

F1 fans call on sport to 'Void Lap 58' after controversy at the Italian GP weekend

Hamilton was beaten by Max Verstappen at the end of last season but two separate incidents this weekend have people revisiting it.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

40 weeks after the last Formula One world championship ended in controversial circumstances, Lewis Hamilton fans are once again calling for decisions to be changed, following two incidents in Monza this weekend.

Back in December last year, Max Verstappen pipped Hamilton to the driver's world title at the last race of the year in Abu Dhabi, in controversial circumstances.

Only some cars were allowed to unlap themselves behind the safety car, allowing the two title rivals to be next to each other, as race director Michael Massi pulled the safety car in with one lap remaining.

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Verstappen on fresh tyres made easy work of passing his rival and taking the win and his first F1 world title, not that you needed to be reminded, it was everywhere at the time.

Whilst you might have thought that enough time had passed, and Verstappen's dominance of this season would have taken over, Sunday led to calls for lap 58, the final lap of the race last winter, to be voided.

The driver's were in Monza for the Italian Grand Prix with the world champion making his way from seventh on the grid, due to penalties, to lead the race.

However, with just a few laps to go, Daniel Ricciardo pulled up on the side of the road with an issue with his McLaren and out came the safety car.

Fans were first looking forward to a straight shoot out between Verstappen and Charles Leclerc for a few laps, after the safety car bunched the driver's together.

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That excitement quickly died down though, as it emerged that there wasn't long enough to release all the cars and thus the race would finish behind the safety car.

Of course, that's exactly what should have happened last year in Abu Dhabi, something the F1 admitted earlier this year, putting it down to 'human error,' as Massi lost his job.

However, Sunday's decision was the catalyst for a lot of social media activity calling on the sport to reverse last year's decision, and it wasn't the only reason.

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The F3 title was decided on Sunday, in the final race of their season, starting with six drivers still being able to mathematically win the title.

A crash with five laps remaining meant the race was initially red flagged, and then abandoned early, with Victor Martins getting a five second penalty during the red glad period, for exceeding track limits.

That would have been enough to deny him the title but the race was then taken back to the 15th lap, before the flag, meaning he kept position and was crowned champion.


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Hamilton fans were pointing out that the same decision to go back to before the safety car could have been made 40 weeks ago, which would have been enough for his eighth driver's title.

We may be most of the way through this season, but some people can't let last winter go...

Featured Image Credit: F1/Alamy

Topics: Formula 1, Red Bull Racing, Mercedes, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton

Ryan Sidle
Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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@Sidler28

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