Esteban Ocon and George Russell say that Formula 1 drivers should lose their qualifying times if they cause a red flag stoppage in qualifying sessions.
Other series already have regulations which give stewards the power to do this. Such a rule was introduced in Formula 2 and Formula 3 this season to punish drivers who trigger red flags during qualifying.
The rule states the stewards can delete the quickest time set by a driver who causes a red flag and bar them from continuing in the session. Other series such as IndyCar have long had similar rules to prevent drivers from gaining an advantage by causing a red flag in qualifying and disrupting rivals’ runs.
The updated F2 and F3 rules state “any driver who in the opinion of the stewards is the sole cause of the issuance of a red flag during the qualifying practice session will not be permitted to take any further part in the session and their fastest lap time during the session may be deleted” for 2024.
It has not yet been used in either series. At Imola last week F3 stewards chose not to delete Callum Voisin’s lap times despite causing a red flag after spinning into the gravel trap.
The introduction of the rule follows many incidents of drivers appearing to benefit from triggering red flags in qualifying, preventing their rivals from completing push laps. Monaco has been the scene of several such incidents, including Charles Leclerc taking pole position in 2021 despite crashing in the final moments of Q3.
Asked whether the rule should be introduced into Formula 1, Alpine driver Ocon said he would welcome a similar regulation in the world championship and said there are already discussions between drivers and race control.
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“I think, if I’m correct, that’s being looked at by the FIA,” he said.
“I think recently we’ve discussed that in some drivers’ meetings, that a situation where a driver would cause a red flag would be monitored. I think that should be something sensible to be doing because we’ve seen in the past drivers causing issues and the others not being able to do a lap. That should be something that the FIA monitors, I think.”
Mercedes’ Russell agreed with Ocon. “We obviously have laps deleted all the time in qualifying for track limits,” he noted.
“I think if you were to cause a yellow flag or red flag, you should probably have your best lap deleted. Nothing more to say about that.”
2024 Monaco Grand Prix
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