Two black-and-orange flags in five races “strange”

In brief

Magnussen frustrated by another enforced pit stop

Magnussen has “no idea” why the stewards felt the need to show him the black-and-orange flag during the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The flag is waved to summon drivers into the pits if their car is deemed to be in a dangerous condition, often due to loose bodywork. The Haas driver was shown it for the second time this year in Hungary, having also been summoned to pit during the Canadian Grand Prix due to front wing damage. Magnussen incurred similar damage in Hungary during contact with Daniel Ricciardo on the opening lap.

“At this point I hadn’t seen it,” Magnussen said. “I didn’t feel anything. I felt I hit one of the McLarens, but not that hard and I’m surprised again. So I hope there was a hell of a lot of damage [to justify the flag].”

Magnussen added that he had not seen the flag before in his Formula 1 career, which stretches back to 2014. “For me, it’s a little bit strange, but what can I do?” he added.

Formula 1’s revised 2022 technical regulations has reduced the number of aerodynamic parts, making the front wing endplate an extension of the main plane. This was done partly in order to alleviate the problem of drivers collecting damage which could compromise their races.

Krack expects “105%” from Vettel until season end

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack does not think Sebastian Vettel’s decision to retire at the end of the 2022 season will diminish his on-track focus until then.

Krack agreed Vettel appeared in a more relaxed mood after after announcing his retirement in Hungary. “But it does not mean that he’s less ambitious,” he said. “Not to the slightest extent.

“For us and this weekend, we had this [announcement] on Thursday, but from Friday it was really business as usual.”

“I really think that he will be 100% or maybe even 105% until the last lap,” he added.

McLaren chooses plumber for Aston Martin F1 base

McLaren Construction, a building company with no connection to the similarly-named F1 team, has awarded E7 Building Services the contract to fit the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems in Aston Martin’s new F1 headquarters at Silverstone.

E7 will also install the systems that enable site-wide control of mechanical and electrical systems once the base is operational and energy management…