Hmmm, you are very confused. We are talking about race leaders catching up to lap somebody. They have the right to not be held up as they have gained a WHOLE lap on them. Nothing elitist about it at all. The last thing you want is the last placed guys affecting the result of a race, otherwise you would only let one of your drivers qualify competitively and the other you would purposely have at the back of the field to hold up the other cars so your "fast" guy always wins. If we scrap the blue flag lapping rule, quite frankly motorsport has just been scrapped. That rule came about due to a need, not to make a TV show more entertaining ... Pete
Dunno about the lapping thing. This year I've seen blue flags thrown to cars that were fighting for position, because they were the 'wrong' car and usually near the back.
Just for grins; I remember a Ponoz school instructor saying "When you see a Blue flag that means there is a race going on and your not in it". I do remember a F1 race this season where there was an HRT negotiating a corner nearly at crawling speed, because of a blue flag, when two cars fighting for the lead passed it. The HRT was moving so slowly to accomodate their race it almost took them both out.
That hasn't happened. Not that I've seen. I've seen it claimed before, but it just doesn't happen. If it did, teams would rightfully scream bloody murder.
Right on. Once you're lapped, you have no business dicing it up with the leaders when they come up on you. It's like making a tackle in the endzone after the opposing team scored a TD. You've already been beaten. Branson is whining. I can see why backmarkers don't like feeling like their race is over because they have to move over (and lose time to those they compete against), but without that rule, backmarkers sometimes don't give a crap. Who would want to see Alonso or Hamilton stuck behind Di Grassi or Bruno Senna for 30 laps in Monaco because there's no place to pass?
At Singapore 2010, the 7% rule would only have knocked out 3 cars - Klein and Senna in the Hispanias, and also Massa in the Ferrari. Everyone else qualified within 7% of Alonso's pole time.
Maybe they should replace the blue flag with the Australian flag to show Mark Webber is coming through! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU6krrhOq7E
Cant remember the exact race, think it was Monza or Singapore, where Glock was holding up a train with Kubica, Rosberg, Hulkenberg and another for many laps. As the lead pack took off in the distance. I kept waiting for the blue flag which never came.
I always thought that F1 was a race? They should do away with blue flags and allow the drivers to use their "superior" cars performance to overtake the "inferior" cars performance.. If the top drivers can not use the performance and supposed ability to over take then surely they should be the ones in the slower cars? And another point, In Monaco how many times do you see a ferrari over take a redbull or a redbull overtake a Mclaren? You don't.. do why use the blue flags in that race?
If you really think that its a matter of relative car performance that makes overtaking in today' F1 you have't been paying attention.
IIRC he wasn't lapped though by those behind him. I thought it was due to pitstops that he happened to be further up in the order.
You obviously have never raced ... Again once Virgin become competitive they will want lapped cars to get out of their way. This thread is simply stupid and should be closed. Anybody that thinks we can do away with the blue flag has no concept of motor racing and how vitally important it is to ensure we actually have RACING. Pete
Interesting, I had no idea the blue flag was mandatory in F1. Anyway Branson's complain is ridiculous. A sorry attempt to deflect from their miserable performance.
In most series, the blue flag is advisory. It is not the flag that ensures we have racing, it is sportsmanship and the respect for the leaders that causes the backmarkers to pull over. Speaking of which, I was recently out on a test day and the assmunch in front of me was given a blue flag at every corner for 3 laps before I finally decided to divebomb him. I wish I could have bought 45 blue flags at the track shop, I would have dropped them off for him at his paddock spot. This was an idiot who had his license suspended recently for similar shenanigans. If I had known at the time I would have driven him off the track ... probably a good thing I didn't know who he was.
Agree, but if you don't you normally will get to have a chat with the clerk of the course. Without the blue flag many would not realise somebody is behind them. Everybody thinks that we modern people do things so much better than in the old days, but the blue flag is another example of something evolving and filling a need very well ... but no we think we no better. We just need to be clever enough to realise this and leave well alone. Pete
Wait a minute - I just said on the previous page that blue flags are advisory in most series but in F1 they are mandatory - and you said they are mandatory in all series But I agree with your premise, that blue flags are critical to the sport, especially F1 where on many tracks passing is extremely difficult even given large performance differentials between some cars.
Well you used to get a kick up the @rse if you ignored them (when being lapped) in my days of club racing. The v8Supercar series in Australia has a so many corners rule too similar to F1. As far as I am aware the blue flag (when being lapped) rule is across the board and is part of the teaching to get any racing license ... well it was when I got mine. They used to even give out a sticker that had all their flags and the meanings so you could stick it in inside your race car if you needed to clarify, etc. I also used to be a flag marshal. Pete
I have no issue with the warning flag, but I have seen blue flags waving at guys that don't even have the leader in sight (behind them), the guy is 3 turns behind them. I also don't know about this 'pull over within 4 turns' deal, it seems to me if you are driving one of the best nachines on earth - an F1 car - be it a fast one or a slow one - you have better things to do than count corners... I don't want to scrap the blue flag, but you have to have some common sense about when or where the best place is to 'allow' someone by, and we ALL know that is the one thing F1 is void of - common sense. I guess you could have it like it is in nascar, where as soon as the guys that started 38-43 are lapped, they simply pull in and collect a nice check and go home.
I agree as well, but I would think that if they want to keep costs down, they will open up different circuits for testing during the year at various tracks and invite/allow ALL teams to come. It makes no sense for ONE team to rent a complete circuit for two days, they (F1) should rent one circuit for about 5-6 days and invite all. You don't have to be there for all 5 or 6 days, pick 1 or 2, or 3.
