The rule should be cut and dry.
If a SC comes out either all or no lapped cars get to clear. Toto (and I'm guessing here) assumed all cars had to clear and there would be no time to restart. So he keeps LH out expecting the win. IMO this was a mistake because they should have known that they would try like hell to end on a green flag lap. But can you imagine the controversy if only merc pits and Max wins under yellow? We'd be talking about the time Merc gave away a championship for years to come.
RB has nothing to lose in any scenario so grab tires and maybe get a chance to run down.
If the rule is just the cars between 1-2 then the merc would most likely pit expecting a green flag run to the finish. RB could go either way at that point but would most likely take the tires.
If the rule is race directors discretion then both teams have to make a gamble. But why should teams have to bet on a ref's call? Gamble on the weather, track conditions, softs or hards, but not on a ref's coin flip.
That discretion ruined a good race. Ideally they both take softs and then that last lap is the real decider. It actually was a pretty good lap anyway even though there was no way LH was holding him off.
It is what it is. I hope they close this protest down quick and get on with 2022 prep. All the previous races are what they are, at the end of the day it doesn't matter how they got there, they both were deserving of being there and there can only be one winner.
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