Haas infuriated by third black-and-orange flag for Magnussen

2022 Singapore Grand Prix

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Haas insist there was “no need” for Kevin Magnussen to be shown the black-and-orange flag for the third time this year in yesterday’s Singapore Grand Prix.

The flag, which ordinarily does not appear often in F1, forces drivers to pit in order have a problem with their car addressed. Magnussen had been shown it twice already this year in the Canadian and Hungarian rounds prior to yesterday’s race.

Race control displayed the flag to Magnussen for a third time when he picked up front wing damage at the start of yesterday’s race. Magnussen had to pit from 12th place on lap six, dropping him to last, from where he finished outside of the points.

On all three occasions a front wing endplate was the damaged part in question. Magnussen has repeatedly said insisted it is unnecessary to force a driver to replace their front wing to make a minor repair.

“I had very slight damage but it was nothing,” he said after yesterday’s race. “I got the black-and-orange flag which to me seems unnecessary as the part wasn’t about to fall off, there were no safety concerns as it has tethers to the car – it wasn’t even moving.

“We finished P12 when we had an extra pit stop that I didn’t need, so it’s frustrating.”

Team principal Guenther Steiner said the team has previously told the FIA that there is no need to use the black-and-orange in such situations.

“It was a disappointing race as we could’ve scored points here realistically, without dreaming of them,” he said.

“The incident on lap one with Kevin, we lost all positions and again we received a black-and-orange flag, now for the third time, when there is no need for it. We have made it very clear to the FIA on the past two occasions and it’s just like you have your back against the wall.”

Kevin Magnussen, Haas, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, 2022
Magnussen picked up similar damage in Canada…
Kevin Magnussen, Haas, Hungaroring, 2022
…and again in Hungary

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2022 Singapore Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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34 comments on “Haas infuriated by third black-and-orange flag for Magnussen”

  1. You can debate whether it’s needed to hand out flags for wing damage, but I think the bigger issue here is that Steiner needs to sit his driver down and ask him to stop damaging his front wings all the time so the flags won’t be an issue regardless.

    1. This. Not the flag or the car is the problem here but the crash kid in the cockpit. Magnussen must learn to be patient on the first lap.

    2. Either the wing is too weak, or the driver needs to learn where it is.

    3. Lol what? Verstappen squeezed him into the wall

      1. James, Verstappen may have deserved a penalty, but the wing was still at risk of failure and still needed changing. While it might have lasted until the first stop (in which case a black-and-orange flag was excessive), I cannot blame Race Control for taking the path of discretion in this case. Similar comments apply to the other two occasions, with possible alterations regarding blame.

      2. lol James. It wasn’t Max that caused his front wing damage, it was when Magnussen hit Vettel’s tire.

    4. Or that Hamilton is not fighting for equality.

    5. The question I have is why Hamilton wasn’t shown the same flag immediately after his shunt into the wall. He did two full laps with the front wing breaking down more and more.

    6. Quite right @sjaakfoo. Also, since they pretty much knew what to expect, they would not have had to wait for the flag – Mercedes pitted Hamilton without a flag later in the race, when it was clear to see his wing was in at least as bad a state as what Magnussen had had. And Verstappen behind (and Norris too, if I am not mistaken) were talking about it.

  2. Thinking Mick won’t see 2023

  3. Biskit Boy (@sean-p-newmanlive-co-uk)
    3rd October 2022, 8:20

    I find these new cars quite good looking, the exception being the width of the front wing. It just looks too big. I’m aware there may be aero reasons for this, but if it was up to me I’d return to wings that finished at the inside of the the front tyres rather than the outside.

    I’m wondering if this would see less of this kind of incident? Also wouldn’t the wing be less likely to jam under the front wheel after an accident? Just thinking out aloud.

  4. I can’t help but wonder whether a RBR or a Ferrari would cop the same flag if they had similar damage.it always seems that these sorts of penalties only get applied to teams lower down the order.

    1. Hamilton literally got the same flag yesterday.

      1. Pretty sure he pitted before he got a flag, and his damage was bigger (although he pitted after 2 laps after the incident , Magnussen got the flag after about 9 laps if I remember correctly).

      2. I don’t think he did, but he certainly would have done.

        Odd that the team told him that the car looked intact, when the TV clearly showed the damage. Probably didn’t have a clear angle when they said that.
        I think he pitted next time round when he knew about it.

        1. I think it was more a case of the team wanting to subtly influence race control not to force their hand with a black and orange flag.

      3. @unitedkingdomracing Hamilton drives a Mercedes. I think Ferrari would have got the same penalty. I cannot help but wonder whether Red Bull would have, given the number of regulations the FIA broke in its favour yesterday.

  5. Lewis should get the black and orange flag too as it was clear his wing was totally broken. Lewis thought he got continue racing after that hit into the barrier!

    1. @macleod seriously give the ‘Lewis derangement syndrome’ a rest, it is totally inappropriate to mention Lewis in every news story.

      Kmag is famous for damaging his car in the opening laps and costing the team valuable points, maybe Haas would be higher up in the constructors championship if they hired more talented drivers who don’t use their car as a weapon..

      1. @ccpbioweapon – Your right ofcourse, i was a bit annoyed that i couldn’t post my comment somewhere where this topic was talked about.

        @alianora-la-canta – Are those rules also for drivers who went into the wall? His team say after 2 laps his wing was ok while we all saw the left side (rightside if you look towards the car) was broken and was hanging and spreading sparks.

        1. @macleod Yes. The black-and-orange flag restrictions are there because teams have to be given the opportunity to pit, and there’s physically only one flag at the circuit.

    2. @macleod Black-and-orange flags can only be issued one complete lap after an incident, as the opportunity to pit has to be given and the flag is only present at the start/finish line. Lewis pitted before that happened (at least if visible damage with reasonable risk of failure – the threshold for getting such a flag – is considered).

  6. How many times do the stewards penalize you for the same infraction before you realize that crowding the refs on this issue is wasting your (and everyone’s) time and you should concentrate on talking to the person in your cockpit putting his wing where it’s getting clipped all the time?

    1. @proesterchen When the driver in question is not the innocent party in the matter?

  7. Lovely how Haas has nothing to say about Russell not getting a penalty for the Schumi incident, but for K-Mag getting meatballed after his own poorly-judged driving at the start.

  8. Speaking of which, this year’s front wing are as solid as ever! You no longer see them flying off at the softest of contacts.

    1. They don’t seem to cut through tyres that often either.

      Overall I’m extremely impressed with the cars this year except for the (size and) weight.

  9. How many laps have he gone with it now? 18-20 or so without it breaking off. Guess they dont factor in preceedence of it holding together.

    Russell clipped Bottas front wing and nothing happend, perhaps Haas should start looking at the design. Because they cant change his nor other drivers aggressive driving, which results in these type of damages.

    And are FIA gonna black and orange flag drivers with floorboard damage or similar parts, which cant be change?

    1. The key component with the meatball flag is that the car damage is potentially dangerous. So if you’re shedding bits of floor all over the track, which might hit other cars or shred their tyres, then a flag would be justified, but not if you’ve just had a big chunk taken out of the floor which is largely stable (e.g. Verstappen in Hungary last year)

      1. But like they said, it’s tethered to the car and wasn’t coming off. Hell, it stayed on for about 9 laps afterwards didn’t it?

      2. But then think back at Alonsos great performance in a heavily damaged McLaren in Baku. Mainly damage to the floor and impossible to fix, yet he was allowed to run despite with the risk of shedding parts and we’ve seen it numerous times with floor damage as it is much harder to visually judge.

    2. JA, if the FIA thinks someone’s chassis/floor damage poses a risk to other drivers or themselves, yes they absolutely do issue black-and-orange flags. F1 cars are designed accordingly.

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