Should grand prix circuits change their rules to allow flares at Formula 1 events? · RaceFans

Formula 1 grands prix are routinely among the biggest live sporting events in the world by the sheer volume of fans who attend.

At the bigger venues like Silverstone or Circuit of the Americas, race day attendance easily reaches over 100,000 fans, with those numbers growing in recent years as F1’s popularity continues to pick up.

With so many people watching races, the passionate and vibrant fan culture witnessed at some of the more popular grands prix has always been one of the best qualities of the sport. And flares have become a major means for fans to express their love for their heroes.

Charles Leclerc will never forget the scene in front of him on the podium at the 2019 Italian Grand Prix after delivering victory for the Tifosi with red flares being set off by fans watching from the track below. The sight of Max Verstappen rounding the Hans Ernst Bocht for the final time in 2021 to take a home victory at the Dutch Grand Prix while bathed in a thick orange haze will always be one of the most iconic images of his championship winning season.

However, this smokey symbol of celebration is not without its problems. For as common as flares have become in the grandstands of grand prix events, they technically are not even allowed to be brought into venues to start with.

Flares are explicitly banned by name from the Australian Grand Prix as well as from Imola, host of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. But many other circuits – such as Silverstone and Circuit of the Americas – prohibit ticket holders from bringing “smoke canisters” and “incendiary devices” to their events. Even at many tracks where flares are most common, they often are not explicitly allowed by terms and conditions of entry. Imola, as mentioned, forbids flares, yet many Tifosi were pictured setting off scarlet red smoke in spectator areas, while Spa-Francorchamps only lists “firearms, bladed weapons and any other type of dangerous item” as a category of forbidden items that flares may arguably fall under.

The use of flares by fans reached a flashpoint in last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix with plumes of orange smoke drifting over the track during the start of Sunday’s race, with some drivers later commenting that it had very slightly affected their visibility into turn seven on the opening lap. So thick was the smoke, one fan captured video of how the view of the track was completely obstructed at the start of the race from the…