In this day and age it is quite rare to NOT hear the words "blue" and "flag" together in one sentence over the course of a race weekend. You're pretty much guaranteed to hear this every race weekend. Whether it's Sebastian Vettel yelling "BLUE FLAGS" or commentators from around the globe starting a debate on whether to abolish them; you will most likely hear those words. But, are we getting bored of the words "blue flags?" With the current top three teams so far ahead from the rest of the pack, are their races ruining races for other teams because of blue flags? In this post, I'll be looking at the positives and negatives surrounding the blue flag system and whether I think Formula One and other forms of motorsport should keep or abolish them.
Flags in racing are an important form of communication towards drivers racing on track. Whether it is to warn of a hazard on track, slippery conditions or an oncoming faster car; you will see them in every motor race around the world. In Formula One, a total of ten flags (or lights, in some cases) are used. These are:
Green Flag: Start of race, restart, end of hazard, pit lane open
Yellow Flag: Hazard on track
Red and Yellow Striped Flag: Slippery Surface
Red Flag: Session stopped
White Flag: Slow vehicle on track
Black Flag: Disqualification
Black Flag with Orange Circle: Pit due to mechanical problem
Black and White Diagonal Flag: Warning for unsportsmanlike behaviour
Black and White Chequered Flag: End of race
And, last but not least:
Blue Flag: Faster car coming. Lapped cars should move out of the way.
So, as we can tell from the above, the blue flag is waved at a driver to move out of the way if a faster car is coming towards them in the means of lapping them. But is this right? Should this be the case? It's a race after all. Everyone should be entitled to race. However, that is not the point of the blue flag. In some motorsport series, the blue flag is not mandatory. And in others, if ignored, you get a penalty. Simple as. Most of the time, the blue flag is considered as a safety aspect but also is seen as a sign of respect and a courtesy to the faster drivers. But as mentioned before, this racing? Shouldn't the drivers just race?
This has been an ongoing debate for years gone by and personally, I have been against blue flags. I see it as, the drivers are out there to race, why should they move out of the way. I can understand the use of a blue flag in a safety aspect but for anything else baffles me.
After the most recent Formula One race where blue flags played an important part in the race, I went to twitter (@brxn_) to ask fellow Formula One and motorsport enthusiasts their opinions on the blue flag debate. The results may or may not surprise you.
Out of 54 voters, 63% were happy for blue flags to stay whereas the other 37% wanted them gone. Now, this may not be a very reliable poll. For example, a Lewis Hamilton fan may be in favour of blue flags staying as it gets slower cars out of his way. But, a Kevin Magnussen fan may want blue flags gone because as soon as the blue flag appears, his race would be hindered in some aspect.
When starting this poll, I also asked voters to comment their actual opinions. And, the feedback was pretty much one sided with, as shown in the results, the majority going with keeping.
Some of the comments I got back included some interesting points such as:
"It used to be more of a problem when there were 26 cars. Now, not so much."
"It is about how drivers handle it. It's about awareness and respect."
"Keep them. They were brought in for a reason. The grass looks greener but rarely is."
"I wouldn't want to see races or even championships decided by by guys blocking front-runners for political reasons."
These comments opened my eyes. As someone who was all for getting rid of blue flags, I started to think. All I want is fair racing. But now I don't know if without blue flags it would be fair. It's almost like you're driving your road car and a slow moving car pulls out infront of you and continues to go along the road at a snails pace. Now imagine it in a race. The leader would not want their race ruined by a backmarker. I'm shocked that I am now thinking this way but rules are rules. I understand completely that blue flags would be most effective in a 26 car grid, for example rather than a 20 but 20 is still a large number compared to some motorsport series.
I guess, whether blue flags are kept or not is all down to your own opinion. Now, I think they should stay. As we know, some drivers don't have much spacial awareness and without blue flags I think there could be some dire consequences for leader and lapped cars alike.
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