As much as the F1 management tried to interfere by keeping the lagging cars between Hammilton and Verstappen after the saffety-car left, in the end it was a fair race.
That's not really the issue, there is some nuance to this. They have to let all of the lapped cars overtake (or in certain circumstances, generally in the wet, then none of them). The issue is that in either of these situations, Lewis would have won without question. What they did was let some cars overtake, in contravention of the rules.
There is also the issue that after the cars unlapped themselves, the race should restart on the following lap, not the current lap... which in this case would have meant the race finishing behind safety car.
The FIA have got themselves into a legal mess with this.
Quote from: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/what-formula-1s-safety-car-restart-rules-say-6878408/6878408/
Mercedes’ protest is based on two regulations: Article 48.12 and Article 48.8 of the F1 Sporting Regulations.
Article 48.12 deals with the situation of having backmarkers unlap themselves.
Initially, Masi had been within his rights to state that ‘Lapped Cars will not be allowed to overtake’ - which meant Verstappen would be trapped behind five backmarkers before he could get a run on Hamilton.
However, on the penultimate lap, on the run down to Turn 9, Masi sent a message saying that five cars – Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel could unlap themselves.
The decision to only allow some lapped cars to unlap themselves is unusual as Article 48.12 suggests that the message ‘LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE’ should be sent to all competitors.
The regulation is then explicit about when the race can be restarted.
It states: “Unless the clerk of the course considers the presence of the safety car is still necessary, once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap.
“If the clerk of the course considers track conditions are unsuitable for overtaking the message "OVERTAKING WILL NOT BE PERMITTED" will be sent to all Competitors via the official messaging system “
This clause suggests that with the lapped car message having come out on lap 57, then the restart could only come at the end of the ‘following lap’- so lap 58, which was the end of the race.
Article 48.12 deals with the situation of having backmarkers unlap themselves.
Initially, Masi had been within his rights to state that ‘Lapped Cars will not be allowed to overtake’ - which meant Verstappen would be trapped behind five backmarkers before he could get a run on Hamilton.
However, on the penultimate lap, on the run down to Turn 9, Masi sent a message saying that five cars – Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel could unlap themselves.
The decision to only allow some lapped cars to unlap themselves is unusual as Article 48.12 suggests that the message ‘LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE’ should be sent to all competitors.
The regulation is then explicit about when the race can be restarted.
It states: “Unless the clerk of the course considers the presence of the safety car is still necessary, once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap.
“If the clerk of the course considers track conditions are unsuitable for overtaking the message "OVERTAKING WILL NOT BE PERMITTED" will be sent to all Competitors via the official messaging system “
This clause suggests that with the lapped car message having come out on lap 57, then the restart could only come at the end of the ‘following lap’- so lap 58, which was the end of the race.
(It is a pity that the Safety cars were brought on.. it would have been a whole other story)
