A MODEL MISTAKE? FIA EXPLAINS CHEOUERED FLAG CONFUSION
‘Celebrity flag waver’ nothing to do with early cheque red flag
FIA race director Charlie Whiting has blamed a mix-up in communications between Formula 1 officials for the chequered flag being shown a lap early in the Canadian Grand Prix.
The official on the start/finish stand, who carries the title of ‘starter’, thought race leader Sebastian Vettel was on his 70th and final lap, and mistakenly asked model Winnie Harlow to wave the flag when Vettel was actually only completing his 69th tour.
Drivers continued to race, either by instruction or opting to believe the lap counter readouts on their dash in many cases, despite some marshals around the lap waving multiple flags in celebration, believing the race had finished.
The FIA treated the situation in the same way as a red flag, counting the result back a lap, declaring a result at 68 laps, not 70. While no places within the top 10 changed, Daniel Ricciardo was stripped of the fastest lap of the race, which he set on that final tour. Instead his Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen took the honour.
Whiting explained: “The flag was shown early because of a miscommunication with the guy that they call the starter here, who starts and finishes races. He thought it was the last lap, and asked race control to confirm it, they confirmed it, but they thought he was making a statement and not asking a question. He just showed it a lap early, or he told the flag waver to show it a lap early, so it had nothing to do with the fact a celebrity was waving the flag.”
Whiting added that the TV graphics may have contributed to the mix-up. They show which lap the leader is on, rather than the number of laps completed.
“I think people who don’t work in F1 are sometimes confused by the graphic where it says 69 out of 70,” he added. “That makes a casual observer think ‘oh this is the last lap then’. It was just a simple miscommunication, and a very regrettable one of course.”
Race winner Sebastian Vettel radioed his team to complain about the early flag, having noticed it was being waved on the big screens while completing his penultimate lap.
“Fortunately we had radio and the pit board was accurate,” said Vettel. “I was just worried, I told them so people didn’t jump onto the track waving flags and celebrating because we are still going at full pace. Some of the marshals were celebrating – they peaked too early.”
Ricciardo was informed of his loss of the fastest lap live on Sky and said in openmouthed shock: “I think it went to me! No..? Let’s re-run this. That’s wrong!”
Simpson took win