Formula 1 sporting chief Ross Brawn has apologised to supermodel Winnie Harlow, adding she was a🅘n “innocent victim” of the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix chequered flag error. 

Harlow, a friend of Lewis Hamilton, was invited to wave the chequered flag at the end of the race, but a miscommunication led to it being shown a lap early. While it did not change the result of the race, it meant Daniel Ricciardo missed out oꩲn the fastest lap to Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen. 

The mix-up resulted in a backlash of criticism towards Harlow, thoug𒁃h F1 race director  Charlie Whiting insisted she was not to blame for the gaff and confirmed the FIA𓄧 will look into the end of the race signal procedure.

“Winnie Harlow was an innocent victim at the end of the race,๊ when she was asked to wave the chequered flag, but was told to do so after ꦆ69 of the 70 laps had been completed,” Brawn explained. 

“I was sad to see her so heavily 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 andꦺ thank her for supporting Formula 1.”