This looked likely for a while, especially when it is usually the protocol that all lapped cars overtake the Safety Car and then the Safety Car comes in on the next lap.

If this happened then then there would have been no grandstand finish but Hamilton would have taken a deserved win and, arguably, championship.

Would this have been entirely satisfactory? No. There would still be fingers pointed at the FIA from Red Bull for not trying to get the race started again, inevitably.

The one-lap shootout, as happened

The option that the FIA and Masi chose looked odd. But did it work? Masi stated that he simply wanted to get a motor race going. Clearly finishing under the Safety Car would have been more unsatisfactory to him than the option he chose.

Indeed, in the hearing after the race, it notes that Masi “also stated that it had long been agreed by all the teams that where possible it was highly desirable for the race to end in a ‘green condition’ (i.e. not under a Safety Car).”

Allowing some lapped cars to overtake, bringing the Safety Car in immediately and having one racing lap is uncommon but produced a thrilling end to a fantastic season. The controversy afterwards in many ways made it fitting for the season.

Who was at fault, what went wrong and what should happen now?

The climax was a mess. Although their persistent lobbying of Masi can become a bit tedious – and it is interesting to be able to hear the team’s communications with the FIA this season – none of the blame lies with the teams. They were both innocent – but interested – parties. Why would they not lobby Masi and the FIA with so much at stake?

It seems the intention from Masi, as stated in the verdict on the hearing on Sunday, was to get a green flag lap if he possibly could. Was it wrong at all? Was it the wrong decision for the wrong reasons? Or the wrong decision for the right reasons?

It is a leap too far to say that this was engineered for a dramatic ending that would look good on Netflix. Strange occurrences, bad luck and questionable decisions happen all the time in F1. But rarely at the season’s climax.

Ultimately, there was almost no option available to the FIA which would have satisfied both Red Bull and Mercedes, unless Hamilton won under racing conditions. There has been much debate about what is and is not allowed this season and there are too many grey areas. These must be clarified. 

Mercedes will rightly want to continue their appeal but a protracted battle into next year would harm the sport. It may be difficult to do but dropping their appeal would be the best thing to do, even at their own expense.