A sudden, surprising wave of Method 1 drivers ignoring blue flags in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix was really attributable to a system failure.
Flag signalling has advanced together with know-how with F1. In days of yore, it was simply bodily flags being waved trackside, however extra seen mild panels have been subsequently added, and drivers now see blue flags pertaining to them on their steering wheel show.
Nevertheless, in Sunday’s race on the Hungaroring, blue flags have been reported to be proven randomly and with out driver numbers on the sprint, which brought on quite a lot of shut calls and, at instances, incidents.
“We did not have any suggestions on the sprint, on the vehicles,” Esteban Ocon defined. “So, we solely had the blue flag panels, however not with our numbers.
“For instance, I used to be racing Isack [Hadjar] exit of pitlane, however I used to be a lap down, I did not know. So, I might need blocked him for 3 corners. However by the point the engineers instructed me, ‘Nicely, you are not racing him’, you do not know as a result of the blue flag is at all times flashing the entire lap. So, yeah, it is probably not clear.”
Motorsport understands the FIA was conscious of the continuing subject and subsequently relied on bodily flags and lightweight panels.
Carlos Sainz, Williams
Picture by: Liam Fabre
This didn’t stop confusion out on monitor, with the highest-profile instance being Carlos Sainz’ collision with Oscar Piastri popping out of Hamilton nook (Flip 2), which contributed to the McLaren driver shedding the lead of the race to team-mate and eventual winner Lando Norris as he tried to lap the Williams.
“At this stage, I had no concept I used to be about to get lapped, and on prime of that I used to be in a giant battle with Fernando [Alonso], attempting to undercut him into the nook,” Sainz defined. “I would not have anticipated Oscar to be there. Even when he was there, or I might have anticipated, he was on my lifeless spot on the angle, so it was unattainable, truthfully, from my aspect to keep away from it.
“Most likely a bit higher communication would have helped, however on the identical time, [it is] a racing factor that typically occurs.”
Sainz nonetheless copped a five-second penalty, with stewards viewing the McLaren’s place within the Spaniard’s blind spot – however not the blue-flag state of affairs – as a mitigating issue, therefore why it wasn’t a 10-second penalty.
An identical sanction went Oliver Bearman’s approach because the Haas driver did not respect blue flags when lapped by Isack Hadjar. The contrite Briton felt it was tough to do higher in these tough circumstances.
“I really feel unhealthy in regards to the blue-flag penalty with Hadjar, as a result of truthfully it was a little bit of a nightmare on the market,” he lamented.
Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Group
Picture by: Alastair Staley / LAT Pictures through Getty Pictures
“You undergo mainly the infield, you do not have time to verify within the mirrors, and mainly each lap I did I had blue-flag screens developing. This race, they weren’t working correctly, so it was powerful to know if it was you or the automotive behind or the automotive forward or no matter getting the blue flag.
“Clearly, it wasn’t malicious, I am a lap down, I am not attempting to do something unhealthy, however clearly I really feel unhealthy for anybody’s race that I’ll have compromised.”
Bearman additional defined: “In the beginning of the race, I used to be getting blue flags after six laps, and I assumed, ‘Wow, that is unusual. We’re not that gradual to be lapped in six laps’.
“So from lap six mainly till lap 70, there have been some blue flags each single lap, so it was actually powerful to know what was actual, what was faux, what was for me, what wasn’t, as a result of usually you might have your quantity, this time it was simply the blue. So, like I mentioned, nothing malicious, I needed to actually depend on the staff to assist me by way of these blue flags.”
Extra reporting by Ronald Vording and Stuart Codling
Photographs from Hungarian GP – Sunday
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