How Michael Masi must have laughed on the other side of the world. He is the Australian race director pilloried on these shores for his interpretation of the safety car rules that ‘robbed’ Lewis Hamilton of the world title in Abu Dhabi five years ago.Which brings us to the 2026 British Grand Prix. In fact, there was only one mistake on Sunday night. That error was flashing up the message that the safety car, brought about by Max Verstappen’s off at Stowe, would peel off to allow a one-lap shootout.What an anticlimax it was when this did not happen, and that fleeting pledge to squeeze in a no-nonsense conclusion made the non-event all the worse. Boos among the 175,000 crowd told the story of disappointment.The finale, with the race finishing under the said safety car, was the antithesis of the Netflix generation’s show-stopping expectations. For this new constituency swelling racetracks around the world, drama counts more vividly in their estimation than dusty Article 123456789 (xyz), subsection 8a, of the FIA Sporting Code. And it is easy to see why.On the matter of the ‘erroneously’ displayed communication, which claimed racing would resume prior to Charles Leclerc’s procession to a deserved victory, the FIA blamed a ‘software glitch’. We must accept this as the true explanation unless we can prove a human hand had any role in the curious gaffe.On the wider point, we must acknowledge that the rules were honoured absolutely. As the FIA said, citing the exact numerals of their Code this time: ‘The Safety Car period regulation, Article B5, 13.5, states that one lap must be completed following the unlapping procedure. This process was followed by Race Operations.’ Max Verstappen went off at Stowe on Sunday – ultimately prompting an erroneous message that the safety car would peel off to allow a one-lap shootout It was another disappointing race for Verstappen, who lies seventh in the drivers’ standingsHow many echoes of Abu Dhabi in 2021 – when Masi thought it better to give the watching world the late theatre they wanted rather than follow the regulations to the letter of the law – crowded the mind of Rui Marques, the current race director, on Sunday?In fairness to Masi, his decision reflected a consensus spoken about in meetings with the teams that season, namely to get the action going again as soon as possible. How unfairly he was pilloried for those legitimate intentions that, admittedly, carried deep consequences.Since then, the wording of the safety car procedure has been lent extra strength to ensure there is no repeat of the sport’s most glaring debacle of recent years. So you can hardly argue that last weekend’s race should have been restarted if you believe Hamilton was mugged in the desert five years ago.Poor Lewis, brave that night yet traumatised for life, did not protest on Sunday. How could he?That said, the rigidity of the rules needs examining again. This contention is underpinned by the feeling here that Masi’s instinct was right. Do all the unlapped cars, for example, really need to be back in place, plus another lap to have been completed, before everyone goes again for real?If the lapped cars are out of harm’s way, why not wave the green flag and let them fight it out, pronto? An emphasis on the spirit of the comment Masi made to Hamilton’s Mercedes boss Toto Wolff in Abu Dhabi should be embraced: ‘It’s called a motor race, Toto.’While we are at it, I would get rid of, or at least sideline to the point of near extinction, the virtual safety car (VSC), which was introduced as an understandable knee-jerk response to Jules Bianchi’s sad death in Japan 11 years ago. It was meant to reduce risk instantly in moments of immediate danger by setting a prescribed low speed limit.No longer would drivers fail to slow down adequately (a misadventure of which Bianchi, alas tragically, was culpable) under double-waved yellow flags. But nowadays, VSCs are deployed willy-nilly, and, ironically, often several seconds after the sort of accident that brought them into existence. Lewis Hamilton celebrates his podium finish at his home grand prix with his victorious Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc There were boos among the 175,000 crowd at Silverstone after Sunday’s anticlimaxWhy not go back to there being only yellow flags; and a real safety car; and a red flag, which provides a level-playing field and excellent entertainment from a standing start?It is tempting to think whether a red flag should be used whenever a race is under threat of a safety-car finish.It sounds like a neat idea, but teams could game that scenario. It would, in other words, be too obvious a chance for last-minute manipulation. It also smacks of being a contrivance.The Silverstone experience should, however, jolt the FIA into looking afresh into every late-race safety car scenario, placing the emphasis on a fair but sporting spectacle… and, by the way, not sending out ‘in this lap’ messages by mistake.My suggestion for Silverstone A verdict on ‘Silverstone The Occasion’ this year? It is always a pertinent question because no Formula One venue, perhaps Monaco excepted, attracts greater scrutiny over its logistics. Indeed, Bernie Ecclestone once called it a ‘country fair masquerading as a world championship event’.It has moved on immeasurably under the excellent leadership of Stuart Pringle, a retired Army captain, who rose through the ranks of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, owners of Silverstone, where he was secretary, to become the Northamptonshire circuit’s chief executive a decade ago.He has recently – and deservedly – been awarded an OBE for his role in cementing Silverstone at the beating heart of Motor Sport Valley, the area’s industrial nexus worth £16billion per year in sales revenue, much of it for export.This year’s race was a triumph of passion and its important if uglier brother, organisational accomplishment. Silverstone has improved immeasurably under the excellent leadership of Stuart Pringle (pictured) – but I have one suggestion for himBut might I make one small, and obvious, suggestion? It relates to the traffic jams leaving the track owing to a record crowd of 464,000 attending over the weekend. My own experience, mirrored by others leaving at 11.30pm on Thursday night, was gridlock accessing the main gates. Friday, post-sprint qualifying, was worse. We travelled one car’s length in 30 minutes (albeit with a medical emergency exacerbating things, I am told).Could a new bridge or an extra exit road be the next high-priority item on the agenda to maintain Silverstone’s burgeoning reputation for excellence?Otherwise, ever-increasing attendance figures are in danger of assuming the appearance of a greedy folly, with punters paying an unreasonably high price in terms of inconvenience.