Brawn apologises for ‘grief’ Harlow received

Ross Brawn has apologised to Winnie Harlow after she came in for some stick for waving the chequered flag a lap early in Canada, a mistake that was not her own doing.

Harlow, a model celebrity in the paddock, was given the honour of waving the chequered flag at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

It, however, went horribly wrong when the starter gave her the order to do so at the end of lap 69.

And while the full race distance was completed, the results were counted back to lap 68.

Brawn insists it was not Harlow’s fault.

“Supermodel Winnie Harlow was an innocent victim at the end of the race,” said the F1 sporting boss.

“She was asked to wave the chequered flag, but was told to do so after 69 of the 70 laps had been completed.

“我很难过,看到她那么严重criticised when, as race director Charlie Whiting explained, it was all down to a misunderstanding between two officials.

“Winnie simply followed the instructions she was given and I want to apologise for the grief she received and thank her for supporting Formula 1.”

When you tell@WinnieHarlowto wave the chequered flag too early

Miscommunications happen!#NoHarmDonepic.twitter.com/3uWCl6zMbG

— Formula 1 (@F1)June 10, 2018

Brawn added: “Something similar happened in China in 2014, but in that instance it wasn’t a celebrity waving the flag.

“As the saying goes, ‘to err is human’ and all of us – drivers, managers, engineers, mechanics, journalists and fans – make mistakes.

“The important thing is to learn from them and try to prevent them happening again in the future.”

“So maybe we should have attacked a little bit earlier.

“[But] it looks like overtaking is forbidden [in Montreal]. I think it was the maximum.”