Here Are Some of the Weirdest Race Finishes in F1 History

1998 British Grand Prix - Because seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher was given a late ten-second penalty, Mika Hakkinen was looking set to win his fifth race of the 1998 season. However, Schumacher, using all his brainpower, pulled into the pits to serve his penalty on the final lap of the Grand Prix, crossing the finish line in the process and winning the race.

The story goes like this. In lap 43, Schumacher overtook Alex Wurz under the Safety Car, but a series of procedural mistakes meant that Michael never did his punishment. Ferrari was unsure whether the notification declared that the German driver would see ten seconds being added to his race time or if had to serve a stop and go.

Unsurprisingly, McLaren objected, and it went to the International Court of Appeal, where they called for Schumacher either to be disqualified or relegated to second behind Hakkinen. In the end, the result stood and all the blame fell on the race stewards.

2003 Brazilian Grand Prix - OK, you need to pay attention to this one because it's a little tricky. Under the Safety Car, Jordan driver Giancarlo Fisichella pulled into the pits for fuel and tires on Lap 7. It seemed odd, but Jordan race technical expert Gary Anderson made a brilliant strategic move, creating one of the best race finishes in F1 history.

The strategy was formulated on the basis that this gave Fisichella the fuel range to get to 75% of race distance, at which point the marshals might stop the race and full points would be awarded. And guess what, it actually worked.

Giancarlo took the lead shortly after Kimi Raikkonen ran wide while Mark Webber had an enormous crash. Fernando Alonso collected the debris and destroyed his Renault, meaning the race was stopped, convincing the Jordan team that they had won.

Unfortunately, it was not that simple. The victory was given to Raikkonen on countback to Lap 53. However, the Jordan team was right all along because it turned out Fisichella had completed his 55th lap a few seconds before the red flag, meaning the countback should have been to Lap 54. An error led to the timing being all wrong, so Giancarlo was named the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix winner six days later.

2018 Canadian Grand Prix - This weird race finish did not affect any result, but it was funny and unusual. Sebastian Vettel was baffled to see the chequered flag marking his victory at the 2018 Canadian Grand Prix at the end of Lap 69 of a 70-lap race. Initially, it seemed like this resulted from an error by celebrity model Winnie Harlow, who waived the flag.

This incident led to the media asking the top three finishers in the post-race press conference if amateurs should be allowed to waive the chequered flag. However, it turned out she was misdirected by local officials who misunderstood the lap count.

1985 San Marino Grand Prix - It might as well be called the 'Run out of fuel Grand Prix.'  The story goes like this. With four laps remaining, Ayrton Senna was seemingly on his way to victory for Lotus. However, the pace of the race had been crazy, causing fuel consumption problems, with Senna slowing on Lap 57 and being passed for the lead by Stefan Johansson.

The Swedish driver looked set for a famous victory on what was only his second start for Ferrari. But Johansson also ran out of fuel, handing the lead to Alain Prost, who made it to the chequered flag first, but his car stopped on the slowdown lap.

Elio de Angelis came through in second place, with Thierry Boutsen running out of fuel just short of the finish line. Fortunately, he was able to push his car across the line, hanging onto third by three seconds.

When everything seemed over, more drama was about to come. Alain Prost was later disqualified after his car was found to be two kilograms underweight, meaning de Angelis was the winner.

These were some of the weirdest race finishes in Formula One history, but don't be shy to share your opinion and thoughts with us.