The 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was just the second time an F1 race has finished behind a virtual safety car since its official introduction in 2015.
Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz were squabbling for third on the penultimate lap in Baku, but tangled coming out of Turn 2 causing both to crash into the wall.
It was deemed a “racing incident” and meant the grand prix finished under a VSC, where drivers must reduce their pace by 30% and cannot overtake one another.
The first time an F1 race concluded under a VSC was the 2024 Australian GP, where George Russell crashed at Turn 6 during the final lap leaving his Mercedes lopsided at Albert Park.
But there have been 11 occasions in which an F1 grand prix has finished under full safety car conditions, making it a more common occurrence.
So, when were those times?
F1 races which finished behind the safety car
1999 Canadian Grand Prix
The 1999 Canadian GP was the first F1 race to finish behind a safety car after Heinz-Harald Frenzen crashed at Turn 3 with four laps remaining. It was a devastating incident for the Jordan driver, who was running second at the time and was set for a third podium in six races until a brake failure sent him spinning into the barriers at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
This caused the race’s fourth safety car period — a then record — and the barrier damage plus close proximity between the stationary Jordan 199 and the track meant the grand prix could not be restarted, leaving Mika Hakkinen as the victor.
It was a third win of the season for that year’s world champion, who was joined on the podium by Giancarlo Fisichella and Eddie Irvine after a race where Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve all crashed at the final corner — thus coining the term ‘Wall of Champions’.
2009 Australian Grand Prix
The 2009 Australian GP was the second time an F1 race has finished behind a safety car and it happened because of a collision between Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica with three laps remaining.
Both drivers were battling for second in which Vettel attempted an overtake on the inside of Turn 3, but he went into the side of Kubica’s BMW causing each car to lose its front wing. Although they were initially able to continue, the Pole crashed out two corners later while Vettel also hit that wall but didn’t stop his Red Bull until the following lap between Turns 10 and 11.
There was a lot of debris, so a safety car finish was ordered which gave Brawn GP its dream debut finishing 1-2 with Jenson Button ahead of Rubens Barrichello. Toyota’s Jarno Trulli completed the podium, while an investigation deemed Vettel at fault so the eventual four-time world champion, who was making his Red Bull debut in Melbourne, was given a 10-place grid drop for the following round in Malaysia.
2009 Italian Grand Prix
While there was 10 years between F1’s first two safety car finishes, the third came quite soon after the second. That’s because it happened at the 2009 Italian GP, six months after Australia, where Lewis Hamilton was just behind Button in the battle for second until the reigning world champion crashed between the two Lesmo corners on his penultimate lap.
A safety car was therefore deployed but it didn’t appear on track, as race leader Barrichello was already on his final lap. This meant he could not be picked up, so in the modern day that would have most likely been a VSC.
Barrichello crossed the line 2.8s ahead of Button for what was Brawn GP’s final victory, ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in third while the Briton clinched the world title three rounds later.
2010 Monaco Grand Prix
There was just one safety car finish in 2010, which came at the Monaco GP after a collision between Trulli and Karun Chandhok, who were battling for 14th with eight laps remaining. Trulli made an ambitious move down the inside of La Rascasse but he slid into the side of Chandhok’s HRT, causing his Lotus to become mounted on top.
The incident occurred just in front of race leader Mark Webber, who drove the rest of the grand prix under safety car conditions during which Vitaly Petrov retired because of a brake failure.
So the Red Bull driver claimed back-to-back wins to move to the top of the championship standings, while team-mate Vettel and Renault’s Kubica joined Webber on the podium. There was more drama further back though, as Schumacher overtook Fernando Alonso for sixth on the final lap but it happened under safety car conditions meaning the seven-time world champion received a 20s penalty and dropped to 12th.
2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 2012 Brazilian GP concluded an incredibly exciting season, where Vettel and Alonso battled each other all year for their third world title. The drama continued into the final race, as Vettel was forced into a recovery drive after spinning to last on lap one, while rain was constantly on and off in typical Interlagos fashion.
The conditions caught out Paul Di Resta on the penultimate lap, as he aquaplaned into the final corner and subsequently hit the barriers — leaving his Force India stranded on track after it had been running in eighth.
Given it happened so late on, a safety car was called for the remainder of the race — allowing McLaren’s Button to win ahead of Alonso who took his final grand prix victory, while the Spaniard’s Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa completed the podium.
But it was still despair for Alonso, as Vettel finished sixth which was high enough for the Red Bull driver to clinch his third consecutive world championship.
2014 Canadian Grand Prix
The 2014 Canadian GP featured another safety car finish, 15 years on from F1’s first which was also at Circuit Gilles Villeneueve. This time it happened on the final lap after Massa hit the back of fourth-placed Sergio Perez at Turn 1, which caused the Force India to crash at 32G while immediately after the Williams almost struck Vettel’s Red Bull in third as well.
It caused the race to finish under safety car conditions meaning Vettel’s team-mate Daniel Ricciardo scored the first win of his F1 career after overtaking Nico Rosberg two laps before the collision.
2015 Chinese Grand Prix
The next safety car finish happened a year later at the 2015 Chinese GP, when Hamilton claimed his fourth victory in Shanghai ahead of Mercedes team-mate Rosberg and Vettel, who was now at Ferrari.
The three were separated by just 2.988s after rookie Max Verstappen suffered a transmission failure which caused his Toro Rosso to stop along the start-finish straight with three laps remaining.
With not enough time for a restart, the race finished under safety car conditions which Vettel would have been grateful for as before it, his team-mate Raikkonen was rapidly closing on fresher tyres.
From start to finish though, Mercedes was the superior team and its 1-2 gave Hamilton his second victory in three races before eventually clinching a third drivers’ title in 2015.
2019 Bahrain Grand Prix
The 2019 Bahrain GP is mostly famous for an engine failure costing Charles Leclerc a dominant victory in just his second Ferrari race, as it dropped him from first to third in the final nine laps.
But during that period, with four tours to go, Renault agonisingly lost a double points finish as within moments of each other sixth-placed Nico Hulkenberg and 10th-placed Ricciardo both strangely suffered abrupt power unit failures at Turn 1.
Given both cars were in the runoff area with little time left, a safety car was brought out to finish the race. Hamilton emerged victorious ahead of Valtteri Bottas in a Mercedes 1-2, while the eventual seven-time world champion consoled a dejected Leclerc in the cooldown room.
2020 Bahrain Grand Prix
The 2020 Bahrain GP will leave a lasting legacy for its opening lap incident, where Romain Grosjean struck the barrier at an estimated 67G on the exit of Turn 3. His Haas car split in half and set alight with Grosjean enduring the flames for approximately 28 seconds, before getting out and fortunately only suffering burns to his hands and ankles — the halo was credited for preventing further injury.
Yet the race, which restarted 80 minutes after the crash, also finished under safety car conditions for a second consecutive time at the Bahrain GP. It happened after the Racing Point of Perez, which was running third, suffered an engine failure and caught fire at Turn 10 with four laps remaining.
So the Mexican pulled over along the following straight, but a lack of runoff area meant his RP20 was still close to the track. This made it difficult to clear the area in time for a restart, meaning Hamilton became the first driver to win under three safety car finishes.
The Red Bull pair of Verstappen and Alex Albon completed the podium while Perez, who replaced the Thai-Briton for the following season, quickly bounced back as he claimed his maiden grand prix victory a week later at the same venue.
2022 Italian Grand Prix
The safety car finish at the 2022 Italian GP was fairly controversial, as it prompted criticism from various members of the paddock who thought the race should have been restarted. It came about because of Ricciardo stopping his McLaren between the two Lesmo corners due to an oil leak with eight laps remaining.
But the reigning Italian GP winner left his car stuck in gear, which meant it could not be moved back behind the barriers and required a crane to lift it from trackside. The FIA opted against a red flag, so Verstappen won under safety car conditions ahead of Leclerc and George Russell.
An FIA spokesperson explained: «While every effort was made to recover Car #3 quickly and resume racing, the situation developed and marshals were unable to put the car into neutral and push it into the escape road.
«As the safety of the recovery operation is our only priority, and the incident was not significant enough to require a red flag, the race ended under safety car following the procedures agreed between the FIA and all competitors.
«The timing of the safety car period within a race has no bearing on this procedure.»
2023 Australian Grand Prix
The 2023 Australian GP featured another controversial finish. With six laps to go, Kevin Magnussen caused a safety car after crashing at the exit of Turn 2, but that became a red flag three tours later because of the debris on track.
A standing restart occurred on the penultimate lap, yet a multi-car collision towards the back at Turn 1 caused another red flag. So with only a lap remaining, drivers left the pit lane behind the safety car and the race finished under said conditions where Verstappen won ahead of runner-up Hamilton and third-placed Alonso.
Altogether, there were three red flags in that race which prompted criticism of the FIA as Lando Norris, who finished sixth, claimed “the whole point of red flagging it, it feels like was just to put on a show”.