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Cape Town - Ross Brawn has apologised to Winnie Harlow after she came in for some stick for waving the chequered flag a lap early in Canada, a mistake that was not her own doing.
Harlow, a model celebrity in the paddock, was given the honour of waving the chequered flag at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve last Sunday.
It, however, went horribly wrong when the starter gave her the order to do so at the end of lap 69.
And while the full race distance was completed, the results were counted back to lap 68.
Brawn insists it was not Harlow's fault.
"Supermodel Winnie Harlow was an innocent victim at the end of the race," said the F1 sporting boss.
"She was asked to wave the chequered flag, but was told to do so after 69 of the 70 laps had been completed.
"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 and thank her for supporting Formula One."
Brawn added: "Something similar happened in China in 2014, but in that instance it wasn't a celebrity waving the flag.
"As the saying goes, 'to err is human' and all of us - drivers, managers, engineers, mechanics, journalists and fans - make mistakes.
"The important thing is to learn from them and try to prevent them happening again in the future."
