Model cleared after prematurely waving Montreal flag

Formula One race director Charlie Whiting has cleared model Winnie Harlow of any blame for the bungled finish to Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix that saw the chequered flag waved prematurely.

Whiting, said the confusion was caused by miscommunication among local officials. This resulted in the flag being waved by Harlow as triumphant German Sebastian Vettel was completing only his 69th lap in his Ferrari, not the 70th and last.

Whiting said: “The chequered flag was shown a lap early because of a miscommunication with the guy that they call the starter here, who starts and finishes the races. “He thought it was the last lap. He asked race control to confirm it.

They confirmed it, but they thought he was making a statement when he was asking a question.” Whiting, the International Motor Racing (FIA) official in charge of all Formula One Grands Prix, added: “He just showed it a lap early, or he told the flag waver to show it a lap early, so it wasn’t anything to do with the fact that it was a celebrity flag waver.”