The times of drivers guilty of a red flag may be cancelled in F2 and F3
From now on, when a driver causes a red flag during a qualifying session in F2 or F3, his time will potentially be cancelled if this penalizes other drivers who have not completed their lap.
Everyone must enter the pit lane as soon as the red flag is displayed, during a practice session, qualifying session, or during the race. No driver can avoid doing so, and once the flag is displayed, there is no turning back on the part of the race direction.
During a qualifying session, if a driver goes off track violently, the race direction will wave this flag. Sometimes, this leads to the session being stopped when there is little time left, as was the case in Monaco in 2021 after Charles Leclerc’s crash.
The other drivers who did not complete their lap are therefore unable to validate their lap time once the red flag is waved, which can frustrate the drivers still on track. In an attempt to enforce discipline, the FIA has decided that in F2 and F3, the driver responsible for the red flag will have their time canceled and could potentially start last the next day.
Team leaders in favor of this rule
This new rule will first be tested in F2 and F3 before potentially being introduced in F1 if the results are successful. Several team directors in F2 and F3 are in favor of this innovation.
Actually, I agree with that because I think there is nothing worse than someone getting pole position and the others having their session ruined by a red flag. I guess it depends on whether it’s your driver who made an innocent mistake or not. I always say that with rules like that, we sometimes want them, but we hate them later, explains Olivier Oakes, director of Hitech.
I think that when it comes to the question of whether we should be close to Formula 1 on the rules or not, I think it’s really easy to say that we would like to be. But I think that sometimes it’s difficult. There are so many nuances that are different, continues the Briton.
« I don’t know why they don’t implement it in F1 as well, to be honest. Maybe because they have fewer red flags, and maybe we are trying something to avoid having as many red flags, but I’m not sure it would change much,” says Sébastien Philippe, ART GP director.
