What are “lapped cars” in F1 and what does it mean when its said “they are allowed to unlap”?

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I’m trying to understand what exactly happened in the Abu Dabi F1 2021 Drama, but as someone very new to racing I don’t seem to understand what exactly happened. I keep hearing lapped cars were allowed to unlap, but as someone who hasn’t seen that match or any for that matter, I don’t exactly know what that means.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Lapped cars are cars that were so slow that the faster cars in front of them were so much faster, that they caught them again and overtook them. So they’re a lap ahead.

Why lapped cars are allowed to unlap themselves in the case of a safety car + restart, rather than moving aside a little on the restart to let the faster cars go on with their business, is a mystery of the universe. There are explanations, none of them really make sense.

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