Lotus Boss Wants Blue Flags Banned from Formula One

Lotus F1's team principal Tony Fernandes once again reiterated his belief that blue flags should disappear from the world of Formula One as soon as possible, as it creates nothing but a safety hazard on the track. Currently, the blue flag is waved by the race stewards in order to let a slow driver know that he's about to be lapped by a fellow racer.

As compared to other racing series however, in Formula One the driver who sees the blue flag is forced to let the faster car pass him, or else suffer a drive-through penalty in the next few laps. In F1's North American counterpart, the IndyCar Series, a driver can keep the faster car behind for as long as he feels like it.

According to Fernandes, this is exactly what should happen in F1 also, as he has already petitioned within the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) for such a blue flag ban. The response was however negative, as the stronger teams argued the 3 new teams of F1 are much too slow as compared to the front-runners.

“It raised a few eyebrows, but I got a better reaction than I thought to be honest,” said Fernandes about his proposal to the FOTA, issued in the first months of the year, according to the Norfolk Eastern Daily Press.

“In the good old days there were no blue flags. There are no blue flags in Nascar and Indycar, and it's more exciting and I think it's actually safer, to be honest. I do think blue flags sometimes actually cause more headaches and are bigger safety issues than not having blue flags. The driver who has to make way is constantly thinking, 'Should I maybe go left? Right?” said Fernandes.

His comments were echoed by F1 veteran Jarno Trulli, who is now obliged to spend most of the race being lapped by faster cars, while driving his Lotus T127.

“I seem to spend more than half the race just watching the blue flags. It requires a lot of concentration because the speed difference is quite a lot and you are going to hit blue flags nearly every lap,” added the Italian driver.