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It will be on to the teams to make sure their vehicles continue to run safely even after being damaged in accidents, and to show this to any in-competition inquiries the governing body may make. If a competitor sustains damage and it is deemed unsafe for them to continue competing, the black-and-orange flag is used as a warning to instruct them to pit for repairs. Drivers are then compelled to enter the pits at the end of the lap. Since the 2022 US Grand Prix, when the Haas team contested the results of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso on the grounds that they had both finished the race despite running with damage, in violation of safety regulations, it has garnered media attention.
Earlier in 2022, at the races in Canada, Hungary, and Singapore, Haas driver Kevin Magnussen was given the black-and-orange flag instruction after sustaining damage to his front wing endplate that caused the part to wave loose. The FIA officials at those races thought this to be risky, therefore he dutifully arrived for repairs.
Haas Protest
Red Bull had sent the FIA photographs demonstrating that the shorn endplate damage was not moving unsafely, which the FIA approved and the stewards’ concurred with that call, which led to the dismissal of Haas’s protest against Perez. Alonso was given a 30-second time punishment that prevented him from finishing in seventh position last weekend after the American team’s complaint was initially determined to be valid. After a protracted investigation into the reasons why Haas’s objection was initially permitted to proceed, it was later reversed. It was announced that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem had started a review into the future use of the black-and-orange flag in the statement that Alonso’s Austin penalty had been overturned.
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Controversial use of Black and Orange Flag?
As occurrences involving Magnussen follow the language of the rule concerning its usage in the FIA’s sports code, this is crucial to the debate over the use of the black-and-orange flag in 2022. However, misunderstanding and fury have ensued after it was not shown to Alonso at the Circuit of The Americas. This flag should be used to notify the driver concerned that his car has technical issues likely to endanger himself or others and means that he must stop at his pit on the next lap, according to the FIA’s International Sporting Code. “When the mechanical problems have been rectified to the satisfaction of the chief scrutineer, the car may rejoin the race.” Prior to the opening practise for the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix on Friday, the use of the black-and-orange flag was addressed at a gathering of the F1 team management at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez track.
No Rule changes
The current debate is on how the flag will be used in upcoming competitions, with the idea that authorities will no longer automatically issue the warning because F1 teams have accumulated so much data showing that a part, even if broken, won’t suddenly become a safety issue. As a result, F1 is in a different situation than other ISC-covered categories, where drivers may be driving with damage they are unaware of, and it is the responsibility of race officials to convince them to stop for repairs in order to maintain safety. It is believed that no rule changes for F1 are planned as a result of the FIA review; rather, the governing body plans to leave it up to the teams to ensure that their cars are always operating safely, although it will intervene and initiate an investigation right away in situations where damage is obviously present.
