Of course, the reason is easy to guess; it's the reason just mentioned: the FIA doesn't want to see the safety car leading the race to the finish.
Because it's already lap 55, and if Matthew takes a little longer than expected to clear debris from the track, the safety car might end up leading the race to the finish.
So the officials had no choice but to deploy the red flag.
The officials only consider regulations, but the red flag is practically a bolt from the blue for Qin Miao and Mercedes.
Because the red flag means that all drivers can enter the pits to change their tires.
As a result, Qin Miao's huge tire advantage over Verstappen is effectively nullified by this red flag.
In contrast, Red Bull's strategy team, who had been busy calculating the track situation all along, was absolutely ecstatic upon seeing the red flag.
