For the second year in a row, the Australian Grand Prix ended in dramatic fashion, this time when George Russell lost control of his Mercedes and crashed in pursuit of Fernando Alonso at one of the fastest corners on the track.
The shunt created a dangerous situation which required fast reactions from both the drivers and race control.Thankfully, the first drivers on the crash scene were able to avoid getting tangled up in the crash. However as the Medical Car was scrambled to attend to Russell as quickly as possible, some drivers were surprised to see it appear on track, having seemingly not been advised it would be there.
Here is how the alarming situation at the end of the race played out over team radio.
The crash
Approaching turn six, Alonso lifted off the throttle and braked briefly, then accelerated before braking a second time to make the corner. Russell closed in on the Aston Martin at a rapid pace at the apex, lost control of his car and sliding wide onto the gravel.
Although his Mercedes scrubbed off a considerable amount of speed before it hit the barriers at, his momentum was enough to bounce the W15 back onto the live race track. His left-rear wheel buckled under the car, pitching it up on its side and leaving Russell exposed to cars approaching the blind entry to the corner.
| Speaker | Message |
|---|---|
| Russell | Red flag! Red flag! Red flag! I’m in the middle of the track! Red flag! Red flag! |
| Dudley | Okay we’ll go red flag – you’ve got Stroll… |
| Russell | Red! Red! Red! Red! Red! I’m in the middle – red! Fucking hell… |
Alonso rounded turn eight and onto the straight to find his rival was no longer in his mirrors. Soon after, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed by race director Niels Wittich, effectively ending the race which was now on its last lap.
| Speaker | Message |
|---|---|
| Cronin | You are all clear behind now. |
| Cronin | Virtual Safety Car. Virtual Safety Car. Slow down. Slow down. Get your delta positive. |
| Cronin | So Russell has reported that he’s okay, Fernando. Just for info. |
When Alonso came back around a lap later and saw Russell’s car in the middle of the road he said: “Wow, is he okay?”
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Avoiding action
The world feed footage had cut to Russell almost instantly after his impact with the barrier. At the same time, Lance Stroll was about to round turn five and approach the crash scene. Despite being seconds away from the 200kph right hander, Stroll got an immediate urgent warning from his race engineer.
Ben Michell was in his final race working on the pit wall with Stroll, and one of his last messages was one of his most urgent:
| Speaker | Message |
|---|---|
| Michell | Yellow ahead, Russell off turn… Yellow ahead! Yellow ahead! Yellow ahead! Danger – he’s in the track! Danger! Be careful, careful, careful. VSC – run switch Safety Car. Delta positive. |
Seven seconds further back, Yuki Tsunoda was the next car to arrive, which he did at vastly reduced speeds after the Virtual Safety Car was activated. After passing the stranded Mercedes in the middle of the road, Tsunoda’s main concern was Russell’s wellbeing.
| Speaker | Message |
|---|---|
| Spini | Yellow flag, turn six. Yellow flag, turn six. Double yellow, Russell stop… Virtual Safety Car. Follow the double yellow reference now, follow the double yellow reference. |
| Tsunoda | [After passing the scene] Is he okay? |
| Spini | Charge ‘on’. Charge ‘on’. I’ll let you know. |
| Spini | Russell said he’s okay, Yuki. |
Russell’s precarious position posed a problem to the field as to how best to navigate around him. Nico Hulkenberg was the third driver to arrive but the first to opt to pass the Mercedes on the right-hand side of the track, which proved slightly more difficult than going by on the left.
| Speaker | Message |
|---|---|
| Gannon | VSC. VSC. Double yellow: six, seven. Stay out. Get plus, positive on delta time. Russell’s crashed. |
| Gannon | [Hulkenberg rounds the corner] There’s debris around here… yeah, he’s right in the middle of the track. |
| Hulkenberg | [Passing to the right] Fucking hell… |
| Speaker | Message |
|---|---|
| Adami | Virtual Safety Car… and big crash for Russell out of six. Be careful for debris – stay to the left for debris, stay to the left. |
| Speaker | Message |
|---|---|
| Marcos Padros | Virtual Safety Car deployed. Russell crashed at turn six… six, seven. |
| Leclerc | Okay. Is that the last lap? |
| Marcos Padros | We’ve got the fastest lap, yes. |
| Leclerc | No, no. Is that the last lap and is Russell okay? |
| Marcos Padros | I will come back to you on Russell. Yes… So, confirm. Russell is okay. Be careful with debris. |
Behind the two Ferraris, McLaren were contemplating pushing on the final lap to reclaim the bonus point for fastest lap with third-placed Norris. But they quickly abandoned that plan when the yellow flags appeared on the timing screen.
| Speaker | Message |
|---|---|
| Joseph | So, Lando, you had the fastest lap, it’s just been taken. It’s a ‘19.8 if you want to go for it. Currently yellow flags turn six though – oh, big crash! There’s a Virtual Safety Car deployed. Virtual Safety Car deployed. As car… |
| Norris | It’s the last lap? |
| Joseph | Yep. Virtual Safety Car. There’s a car in pieces in the middle of the road, turn six to turn seven. |
| Norris | Yeah… okay. |
| Joseph | ACS button press, please. |
| Norris | Is everyone alright? |
| Joseph | Erm… yes, it’s Russell. He’s said on the radio he’s okay. |
| Joseph | [Norris arrives at turn six] It’s double yellows where you are. |
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Medical Car confusion
However, this created some confusion. Piastri assumed it was the Safety Car ahead of him and, as he was not the leader, wondered if he should pass the vehicle. Piastri followed the Medical Car all the way to the crash site where it stopped to assist Russell. But only then did the ‘Medical Car deployed’ message appear on the race control information system – exactly one minute after it had left the pit lane.
| Speaker | Message |
|---|---|
| Stallard | Oscar, there are yellow flags ahead – Russell in the wall. Virtual Safety Car. Delta positive. Recharge ‘on’. Oscar, there’s lots of debris turns six to seven. You’ll need to keep left, but the car is pretty much in the middle of the road. Middle to the right, the car is located. |
| Piastri | [Piastri is passed by the Medical Car into turn one] Do I overtake the Safety Car, or… or not? |
| Stallard | Only if you’re waved through. Only if you’re waved through, Oscar. |
| Stallard | So Oscar, this is the last lap but extreme caution turns six to seven. The car is in the middle of the road. A lot of debris. |
| Piastri | Copy. |
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The Medical Car’s deployment also gave Pierre Gasly some anxiety. He was due to serve a five second time penalty for crossing the white line at pit exit earlier in the race and was seven seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas before the Virtual Safety Car was deployed.
Drivers can go as fast as they can under VSC as long as they do not exceed their VSC lap delta. As Piastri ahead slowed to allow the Medical Car a clear run to the crash site, Gasly had to follow suit. As they were not going as fast as they could typically go under the Virtual Safety Car, this allowed Bottas to close up and put Gasly’s position in danger.
| Speaker | Message |
|---|---|
| Loos | VSC. VSC. We’ll go recharge ‘on’. Recharge ‘on’. There’s an incident, turn six. So let’s keep to the left hand side of the track. |
| Gasly | Can we overtake the Medical, or not? |
| Loos | So just no overtaking. Stay behind Piastri. |
| Gasly | [Bottas now three seconds behind him] We are seven seconds off the limit… |
| Gasly | [Rounding turn six] Oh my Go… iIs he okay? |
| Loos | We’re getting that info. |
| Loos | Yep, we have heard he is okay. |
One driver who benefited from Russell’s crash was 11th-placed Kevin Magnussen. The Haas driver was one place behind his team mate Nico Hulkenberg when it suddenly dawned on race engineer Mark Slade that a double points finish for the team was now on. However, like many of his rivals, Magnussen was much more concerned that his fellow driver was safe:
| Speaker | Message |
|---|---|
| Slade | There’s a yellow flag at turn six… seven. Russell has stopped. So you’re currently looking at P10. VSC. VSC. Staying out. |
| Slade | Russell’s in the middle of the track coming out of turn six… between seven. So just be careful. Stay left. Stay left. Stay left. Stay left. Just be ready for VSC ending. I doubt it will, but just be ready… |
| Magnussen | Errr… It won’t, mate! |
| Slade | No, there’s no way, no. Not with the car like that, no. It’s okay. |
| Magnussen | Is he moving? |
| Slade | So you are P10, Kev. P10. I don’t know, Kev, I don’t know. |
| Slade | Russell is okay. Russell is okay. |
| Magnussen | Copy |
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2024 Australian Grand Prix
- Alonso calls Australian GP penalty a ‘one-off I’ve had too many of’
- Red Bull saw warning sign of Australian GP brake problem on Saturday – Verstappen
- Failing to punish Alonso would have “opened a can of worms” – Russell
- Leclerc sure “many team principals” are pursuing Sainz for 2025 seat
- “Don’t put me under pressure” – The best unheard team radio from Melbourne
Author information
Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...Read more about Will Wood, find all their articles and get in touch with them
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57 comments on ““Red flag!”: Rapid reactions and radio confusion in seconds after Russell’s shunt”
Comments are closed.
Wellbalanced
26th March 2024, 12:36
Fascinating read – thank you
MichaelN
26th March 2024, 12:47
Good reaction by Ben Michell! These situations are always particularly dangerous, and Russell’s anxious response is very understandable.
I’m still surprised there was no investigation nor penalty given at Le Mans 2021, when Sophia Floersch was sent into a crash, ended up on track, and then, under yellow (!), was T-boned by Tom Cloet at such high speed that the medical alert was triggered. A big fail by race direction Freitas and the India Eurasia team.
Wellbalanced
26th March 2024, 14:02
My interpretation of Russell’s response was that he was calling for a red flag less for safety reasons, and more for position-protecting reasons – an effort to lock in a points finish before the field passed him.
cdavman (@cdavman)
26th March 2024, 15:09
I don’t believe that is what he was doing at all. I think he was genuinely fearing for his safety.
A car has side impact structures, to help protect a driver in a t-bone situation, and yet we’ve seen the horrors that occur in that situation.
Trouble is, he was on his side, with the underside of the car facing the flow of traffic, with the base of his spine mere inches from the floor of the car. He also couldn’t see the cars approaching, so I can well imagine he was lying there thinking the worst about to happen.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if he could see a marshalls post/ light panel from his position and was wondering why the hell the red flag wasn’t waving.
I think he genuinely sounded panicked if you actually listen to the radio. Nothing to do with trying to preserve a points position, more to do with trying to preserve his life.
Wellbalanced
26th March 2024, 15:39
I’ve heard it, and he (understandably) sounded adrenaline-filled. But these drivers are also canny enough to realise what a red flag would mean. I think it’s underrating Russell’s intelligence to say that he was operating purely out of panic there
sam
26th March 2024, 16:12
Then you didn’t watch the video…
Davethechicken
26th March 2024, 16:30
Russell I am sure was thinking about Anthoine Hubert scenarios not the WDC as he dangled there, unable to extract himself at a blind high speed corner exit.
earthling (@34rthl1ng)
26th March 2024, 21:54
There are things you cannot really underrate
Marcus (@marcusw)
26th March 2024, 17:15
I’m sorry, but that is NOT a well balanced response! GR was clearly very much afraid that he was about to be hit at high speed by a following driver.
Wellbalanced
26th March 2024, 17:18
I reckon Russell was:
a) Majority: worried about oncoming cars;
b) Minority: thinking about the points.
These guys are elite competitors – full complements to Russell for considering the bigger picture.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
26th March 2024, 17:26
I fully agree with this. I’m not against drivers asking for red flag with such an incident, but I do think russell perticuarly is very aware of the rules and what they mean, and perticuarly at this moment in time, he knew what would happen if a red flag was the case; the cars would be classified in the positions they were in on the lap it happened, so he wouldn’t have lost out.
To be realistic, a red flag would mean that all drivers that were not passing the pit entry would have to all go past anyway, just like they did during the double yellows and safety car and it will have made very little difference safety wise given how quickly the drivers caught up to it all. And I’m really fussy about safety. I think that the decision they made was suitable, and russell’s radio was more smart tactics than panic, although certainly a bit of the latter.
To be honest, I heard much more genuine fear in Stroll’s voice when he said this after his puncture in Baku 2021:
“Wow wow wow wow, wow. Wah Red Flag! Red Flag! Get me out of this place on the track! I got a puncture”
While I sense there was clearly a bit of fear in Russell’s voice, I think it was far more related to him being switched on and knowing that if him begging for red flags was successful, he wouldn’t lose out at all. He likely also knew that the safety car would result in more or less the same number of cars having to pass him on track as the red flag too.
wellbalanced
26th March 2024, 17:42
Quite – and Russell is a smart enough cookie to be able to think of the bigger picture in the moment. As I said, good on him.
grat
26th March 2024, 19:05
No, not at all. In GP3, Russell had a teammate named Anthoine Hubert, who in F2, was killed when his car crashed, and was torpedoed by a second car at Eau Rouge.
George knew he was in a blind section of the track where drivers were at high speed– and frankly, that’s what makes Alonso’s antics more dangerous. Hubert’s accident HAD to be on his mind as he sat there, stuck in a car on it’s side. F1 cars have great side-impact protection, but their floors are a bit less substantial.
Davethechicken
26th March 2024, 19:38
Absolutely Grat, i made the same point above. In another thread on this someone was absurdly arguing it was more dangerous to drive to a race track than on one….
A stationary car hit by another at even moderate speed is simply not going.end well for the stricken driver. There transfer of energy to their body will result in severe injury.
Tambeau (@tambeau)
26th March 2024, 13:09
Can you please not put the Racefans.net logo behind the radio transcript. Due to sight problems I have to use a dark mode on the browser, which makes the background black and the text white. This works great except the logo is still shown as a big white patch which makes the transcripts impossible to read.
I can only think it’s used to avoid people cut and pasting the text, but is it even needed. Other websites seem to implement a software method of stopping the mouse right click and ctrl+c etc. If it is just for style issues or out of habit, please rethink, as it is actually doing the opposite of attracting readers. I can’t believe that I am the only reader to experience this, given the amount of people with sight problems in society as a whole.
praxis (@praxis)
26th March 2024, 13:23
@tambeau, same complaint here.
Racefans can certainly implement copy protection.
The way web apps(websites) work, most effective dark mode is when the website supports it natively. That’s the way itnis now.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
26th March 2024, 17:47
@tambeau @praxis Thanks for the feedback, noted for the next time we look at this.
PlosslF1
26th March 2024, 18:34
I would add as well that the font is small and on the faint side, had to lean up to the screen to read it.
SteveP
26th March 2024, 19:12
@keithcollantine Keith, could I just point out that if it is indeed a design choice to prevent copy-paste of the text – it doesn’t work. (example below)
So, if it is a protection design not working, but causing problems for some users, maybe ditch it until an alternate can be found?
Some of the systems at work have to have fancier features removed, temporarily or otherwise, if they cause problems for the visually impaired. Sometimes the work to fix the problem takes silly large effort. I feel your pain.
I hadn’t checked until it was mentioned, but this is a simple select, copy paste:
earthling (@34rthl1ng)
26th March 2024, 21:57
Yes, I was going to say the same thing, Tried that in W11-Opera and in MacOs-Safari, in both I can copypaste it just fine
Clay (@clayt)
27th March 2024, 0:06
@tambeau @praxis @34rthl1ng cc: @keithcollantine
Ctrl+++ on your keyboard makes the text larger and easier to read.
[Ctrl0 (zero) restores to default size]
Jere (@jerejj)
26th March 2024, 13:20
I understand the heat-of-the-moment thing about hastily calling for red-flagging, but he should’ve realized that’s something undoable when the final lap is already ongoing because drivers need to pass the chequered flag for a race to end, most criticially the eventual winner, so simply nothing to do with that anymore.
Simply impractical for final results to red flag a race during the final lap.
CarWars (@maxv)
26th March 2024, 15:28
I think they can red flag at any moment in the last lap and decided to not resume the race. The results would be the ones of the lap before i think. So Russell would be classified behind Alonso.
The most important in the end is the safety. This was an immediate red flag if I have ever seen one. The fact that they don’t do it and consider other things is beyond me. That is not how safety works..
Riccard
26th March 2024, 18:15
I worry F1 is literally not capable of ordering a red flag in less than 90 seconds. Is there any point in they last 5 years they’ve achieved that?
Decision-making for safety critical events needs to be faster.
Jere (@jerejj)
26th March 2024, 20:28
Although taking the final results from the lap before or two laps before would’ve been unfair in this case as Mercedes would’ve gained more points over their closest rivals since Russell would’ve effectively un-crashed himself.
Alesici – Not about that, but I simply hadn’t seen your reply because I hadn’t revisited that article.
AlanD
26th March 2024, 15:33
Jere, Undoable? I don’t think that is true. If the road is blocked and other approaching cars would be a hazard, they can stop the race immediately whatever lap it is on. Why would the last lap be any different? If the race has to be red flagged and cannot be restarted, the positions of the cars at the previous completed lap is taken as the finishing order. There is no need to wave the chequered flag to finish a race.
Alesici
26th March 2024, 15:50
This is what I told Jere a few days ago when he said the same thing, but the extremely obvious concept still refuses to penetrate his belief system.
Also, I think at one of last year’s race’s red flag restarts, the drivers who caused it were put to the back of the grid I think. Obviously that’s a restart not a race result, but I do wonder if they’re able to adjust the result to reflect the crashed car’s… crashed… position. Maybe the rules don’t allow that. Either way, in this dangerous situation, it’s in no way relevant to whether a red flag should have been shown.
Simon
26th March 2024, 16:05
+1 to all of this
Davethechicken
26th March 2024, 16:36
Jere, I think you are being harsh. He would have been petrified of being rammed by another car, as he was lying in the sticken cockpit.. There are several fatalities in junior formula in similar scenarios. All drivers dread the scenario.
His reaction was visceral human fear. Give the man some slack.
Oople
26th March 2024, 16:46
Such a silly remark…
PlosslF1
26th March 2024, 15:50
I find it quite shocking that an instant red flag wasn’t called, with a VSC you have to stick to a delta that means your speed can vary between 60 and 80kph, the dust had barely settled before Stroll came through the scene, what if there had been a fire and Marshals are running onto the track to fight it and a car comes rocking by at 80kph.
This was just a case of putting the show before safety so they could have a chequered flag with the crowd cheering and a photo moment for Ferrari.
And all this guff about Russell doing it for the points, the man was scared for he’s life knowing from the steering wheel display that no red flag was called…
Red Andy (@red-andy)
26th March 2024, 16:01
It can be both, of course. There have been instances in the past of drivers trying to influence a red flag to their advantage, when they’ve made a mistake that’s ended their own race.
I recall Michael Schumacher parking his car in the middle of the track after a first-corner accident to try and trigger a red flag (Austria one year, maybe?)
And there was some suspicion of Mark Webber when he crashed in Korea in 2010, that he let his car roll back onto the track in the hope of bringing about a stoppage. Later on in the same race his teammate Vettel was also on the radio agitating for the race to be stopped, because his engine was about to fail.
PeterG
26th March 2024, 16:50
I believe that even under a red flag they are given the same delta’s to follow as under a VSC so it ultimately doesn’t make any difference which was called as the drivers are obligated to slow down to similar speeds under both scenarios.
And I also don’t believe I have ever seen a race red flagged on the final lap before as final lap accidents were always covered by double waved yellows before they introduced the SC & from that point on it was covered by a full SC and now they also have the VSC.
I would agree that the VSC should have been sooner but with the double yellows also been displayed & drivers been informed over the radio I don’t think George was ever in any real danger of been collected by another car.
Maybe something that should be looked at is having direct communication with race control as is done in other categories where the race director can inform all drivers directly at the same time where a car has crashed, where it’s come to rest & if necessary where he believes it’s safer for them drive around it.
Jere (@jerejj)
26th March 2024, 20:31
PeterG I don’t recall red-flagging happening during a final lap either.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
26th March 2024, 16:13
If George had got his red flag, would we have had a two-lap demolition derby like last year?
I’m relieved nothing happened with the next few cars through, all trying to score points. I could see Hulk picking his way past on the “wrong” side, in between TV replays of the crash. Any racer would take the opportunity to sneak up on him in that situation.
I often wish the race engineers would shut up and let ’em race, but it’s important work they’re doing – given the delay informing drivers the medical car was on track. Not race control’s finest hour. Or Gasly’s – who overtakes a medical car…when 13th place is at stake?
Red Andy (@red-andy)
26th March 2024, 17:34
No, because Sainz had already started his last lap, so the last lap would have been completed under red flag conditions when he returned to the pits. Under red flags, both “in” and “out” laps count towards the final race distance.
Jere (@jerejj)
26th March 2024, 20:33
@red-andy He wouldn’t necessarily have even crossed the timing line, though, given its positioning relative to where a leader stops on the fast lane & even more so, no one else, so circling around for a what would normally be a cooldown lap wouldn’t have made a difference to overall distance anymore & also the difficult with getting final results for 58 laps without that unless taking them from either the penultimate or the lap before.
F1sauber (@f1sauber)
26th March 2024, 16:14
Very well written article by Will Wood, thank you, very insightful. Anyone can help me understand what is the ‘positive delta’ being communicated to the drivers? Thank you.
PlosslF1
26th March 2024, 16:24
If a race engineer says this to a driver, this means that the driver is driving faster than the pre-defined lap time and needs to slow down, and hence keep his Delta Positive.
AlanD
26th March 2024, 18:20
I also struggle to understand what they mean in these situations. I always thought delta was used to indicate rates of change of a variable but I think in F1 it has just become one of those cool bits of jargon that people like to use to sound intelligent. I was rather hoping someone would tell me, when the engineer says “keep your delta positive”, what is positive with respect to what?
PlosslF1
26th March 2024, 19:00
The is term used to describe the time difference between two different laps or two different cars. For example, there is usually a negative delta between a driver’s best practice lap time and his best qualifying lap time because he uses a low fuel load and new tyres.
So if you do a 1:20 in practice and 1:15 in quali the change/Delta of your speed/time has gone down, negative Delta. ie your going faster.
If in the race you do a 1:20 again your Delta has gone up compared to your quali time 1:15, positive Delta.ie your going slower.
The actual Delta time used would be (last time I looked) 30% increase in lap time compared to a normal average lap.
AlanD
26th March 2024, 23:21
Plossi, that’s stull just using jargon without explaining what “keep your delta positive” actually means. In simple terms,
dx = x1 – x2
The engineer is telling the driver to keep dx above zero during the VSC. In this context, what is x1 and x2?
PlosslF1
27th March 2024, 3:20
If the average laptime is 100 seconds you need to increase it to 130 seconds (+30%)
dx= x1(130s)-x2(100s) =+30 seconds so Delta Positive
If you go to fast, say 90 seconds you get
dx=x1(90s)-x2(100s)=-10 seconds so Delta Negative
PlosslF1
27th March 2024, 4:28
Reading through it I think it needs a bit more explanation as you need to ignore the second part as its kinda wrong/not relevant
So if you do a laptime of 120 seconds that is below the target of +30 s (30%) you’ve only slowed 20% (20s) needed to avoid a penalty.
So anything 30 seconds and above is a Delta Positive, anything below 30 seconds is a Delta Negative.
Hope that makes sense, Iam starting to confuse myself :)
AlanD
27th March 2024, 13:34
I think the confusion arises because there are so many things it could be, lap time, speed, distance to next car, maximums, minimums, not knowing what the reference point is or where it comes from, an average time, a time set by the safety car, etc. It is further confusing for laymen like me because “delta” is the new buzzword in F1, so they talk about deltas everywhere, the Mercedes delta to the Red Bull, the delta between drivers, (which could mean lap times, points scored, salaries) etc.
So in answer to the original question, I think “Keep your delta positive” in this context meant “keep your lap time longer than the designated safety lap time”, i.e. make sure you don’t drive too fast.
PlosslF1
27th March 2024, 17:45
Thats the one, each circuit will have a different Delta value (increase in lap time) in this case its 30 seconds (30%), anything above that time is Delta Positive, all is good, anything below that time is Delta Negative, penalty and probably a trip to the to the stewards as I cant remember anyone one doing a Delta Negative.
Perhaps @KeithCollantine could maybe do, during off season or a slow news week articles about the finer points of F1, Deltas, penalty system, what the flags mean, what goes on in a marshals post, start procedure and restarts etc with maybe some of the bizarre incidents that have occurred with these events, waving the Chequered Flag to early etc, as me trying to explain it was not a case of ‘going round the houses’ and more a case of ‘going round the Estate and stopping off for a Pint’ :-)
PlosslF1
27th March 2024, 18:00
Just one more thing (oh for an edit button and not doing long shifts with too much coffee) the delta is measured between Marshal posts so you cant floor it through one section then go really slow through another….. Bit like those average speed camera traps… not that I’ve ever done anything like that ;-)
The Dolphins
26th March 2024, 19:52
Taking George’s radio out of the equation: I watched the incident live and was shocked it was not red flagged for safety. I laughed at the race director ordering a VSC when a car was sideways covering half the track.
I’m glad to see the transcripts of the race engineers communicating quickly to their drivers about the hazard.
Also, some viewers seem to be confused about when a red flag can be called: it can be at any point in time, restarting does not factor into the decision. In this case there obviously would be no time or need for a restart.
Jere (@jerejj)
26th March 2024, 20:34
VSC or full SC conditions are enough when the final lap is already ongoing.
AlanD
26th March 2024, 23:27
Suppose there is a fire in the stands, a barrier collapses, and two hundred panicing spectators spill onto the track. Do you say a VSC is enough because it is the last lap?
The Dolphins
27th March 2024, 2:14
Red flag = go into the pits, no cooldown lap, don’t try to race to a delta in the hopes that vsc will end, and do Not ask if you can pass the medical car because the race is simply over. Much different than a VSC or SC. I stand by my assessment, the Race Director was too lax in this case and luckily there were no incidents as a result.
CarWars (@maxv)
27th March 2024, 12:19
Agreed the race director needs a safety lesson. Seems they are more worried about the show.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
27th March 2024, 13:57
Yeah, it was insane – it could have killed Russell or another driver or led to a pile-up. Wrong decision, period!
PlosslF1
26th March 2024, 20:48
Something I hadn’t really picked up on as well till now.
“However as the Medical Car was scrambled to attend to Russell as quickly as possible, some drivers were surprised to see it appear on track, having seemingly not been advised it would be there.”
The whole situation was a bit was a bit of a safety… for want of a better word…Balls Up.
AlanD
26th March 2024, 23:24
Well certainly Russell was in the balls up position.
PlosslF1
27th March 2024, 3:34
Lol
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
27th March 2024, 13:55
That looked like a Red Flag to me any race of the year, any lap, any position.
Just dangerous to leave a driver in that position on those turns.
Safety is always #1 and it clearly was #2 in that decision. The race director should not have hesitated.