Formula 1 Flags : Formula one is certainly the most thrilling sport in the Motorsport world and same can be ascertained while witnessing all those Spellbinding Sports cars on the racing tracks.
It doesn’t matter if you are a Moto racing buff or not, you cannot resist the thrill of the sport once you get into it even for a minute or two. Moreover, most of us would have surely come around certain questions in regard to the formula one event. Questions like “How do they manage if the tracks are not safe enough to race”? “What happens if a Car goes through an accident “and so on often strikes our mind every now and then?
The answer to all these questions comes as one: the Flags used in Formula one event. The Race officials generally indicate the Drivers about the various track conditions and other aspects with the help of differently colored flags and while we said that, let’s have a detailed look at all the Flags used in the Formula one event.
The Yellow flag
The Yellow flag holds utmost importance in the Formula one events and it is been mostly used to direct the drivers about a certain danger caused out of a collision or an electrical or mechanical failure. Moreover, it all depends on the manner in which the Flag is being used during the course of the racing event.
The Driver is required to slow down once he gets a sight of yellow flag and once he gets the Yellow flag again, he must be prepared for a stoppage until the whole issue gets sorted out in the process. Moreover, the flag is generally being followed by a Safety car sign in case if the Safety car is on the track during the race.
The Red flag
The Red flag is another very important indicator of a serious issue during the course of the race and its is been directed generally in cases when there is a need to halt the whole racing session due to bad weather conditions or a sever accident on the racing track itself.
It was during the 2017 Azerbaijan grand prix when the most recent red flag was waved after certain debris have been figured out on the racing track out of various collisions amongst the cars in the race. However, the race was restarted later and Red bull Driver Daniel Ricciardo emerged as a winner of the Grand prix.
The Blue flag
While we all know that Sports cars gets to overrun each other during the course of the race, Blue flag is been shown to a car, which is about to be overlapped by a faster car. Moreover, there is a rule which says the slower car must let the faster car pass away and in the wake of not doing so even after getting shown three blue flags, the Driver and Constructor would both be receiving the penalties for the same.
Blue flag is also been shown if the care gets outside the pit lane and same signifies that there is already a faster car on that racing lane.
The Green flag
Green flag are the ones which are waved in order to indicate the drivers to get on with the racing after the halt due to any collision or any upcoming threat because of any issue on the track. This may also come in picture when the track is deemed free out of any debris and the racers are now allowed to resume with their race and they are even free to overtake as well.
The Black flag
Black flag is generally used to indicate the Driver and the team that they are disqualified from the race. The Driver is then required to get back to the pit and he is no longer a part of the racing event. During the past few years in Formula one, Filipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella were the recent defaulters which have been shown the black flag in the 2007 Canadian Grand prix due to their ignorance towards the red light once they got out of their pit lanes.
The White flag
White flags are generally used in Formula one to indicate a slow moving vehicle and usually been brought into sue at the extreme end of the last corner along with the pit straight at the conclusion of the Practice sessions where all the drivers are going through their practice for the main event.
The Checkered flag
The Checkered flag can be stated as the most preferred flag for any driver who is being the part of the event, as it’s been shown to the race leader at the end of the of a session. Moreover, its been waved at the completion of all the laps during the race along with the finishing of the time period allotted for the main event or the qualifying session.
Different flag combinations during the race
Black flag with Orange circle flag
The waving of Black flag along with an Orange circle flag means that there is some mechanical issues with the Car and the driver is now required to return to the Pit stop immediately. Moreover, just like in the black flag’s case, the car number is also been flashed in the process.
Half black and half white flag
If the Drivers who are participating in the event are being found to be conducting any kind of Unethical acts violating the spirit of the sport, he will be shown half white and half black flag as a result. Moreover, if the Driver keep son going with the same, it will end up in being a complete disqualification with the black flag.
Yellow and Red striped flag
Quite often we can see the condition of the tracks getting depreciated during the course of any event. Therefore, Yellow and red striped flag are been waved whenever the track is getting deteriorated due to the presence of excess oil, water and other related fluids which are being used in the cars during a race event.
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