Yellow Flags in F1 in Spain

[CombeMarshal]

Is it just me or are you not meant to set fastest laps (at the time)under yellow flags, several drivers did this in todays race and nothing was mentioned about it,
I thought you had to be under full control of the car, I.e. not flat out
Lee

[Asp]

I was thinking exactly the same when I saw it. It's a topic though that is frequently discussed - if he was 0.1 seconds in the sector was the yellow flag was, and set better sectors everywhere else he eased off for the yellow, in theory...
I'm also not 100% what the official F1/FIA rule is on yellow flags too.
It's a topic that we can go round and round in circles with, in most peoples view it is wrong, but options of what can be done about are sadly slim

[Stoowert]

It's like most things in F1. If it suits the powers that be, then it's a no-no, but if it's, say, to do with a pair of red cars, then the Nelson aproach is used! I've been a stauch supporter of the notion that qualifying - be it F1 or any form of the sport - should be suspended while yellow flags are displayed. Now, if we had a landline system, race control would be aware of a hazard within seconds. That's a whole new thread however!

[CombeMarshal]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks it's wrong, I think that aby lap that is Completed under Yellow should be atleast 10 seconds slower than there normal race pace, if they don't stick to that they get a 10 second stop go, they'd think twice then!
Lee

[Hepatic]

It should be slower, but the problem they have is determining *how* much slower is acceptable. Drivers won't accept slowing down by 10 secs as one of them will always go quicker and won't get punnished and so the rest of them decide to go quicker too. I personally think that if it can't be determined at the time, a post-race 10 sec penalty should be imposed if they have a "at the time" personal fastest lap. I don't think you need any more proof than that of them not slowing down, but it'll never happen in F1...

[b1ackcr0w]

There is the scenario that driver passes through sector one, and the incident happened after he passes through sector 1, then they can quite legitimately set a fastest lap, because as long as the stationary yellow doesn't cover the finish line, a yellow flag was never covering an area he was going fastest in.

There is a more difficult to argue theory that on GT's and slicks and wings cars that says that outside of a cirtain tyre temperature range, the tyres don't melt properly and are therefore generating less grip and therefore more dangerous. If you accept this theory, then it is arguable that to slow to the degree that the lower speeds are discernable, would actually precipitate a further accident, espeicially on the restart lap.

Let me qualify that second theory by mentioning that I to have been scared witless by dealing with incidents with cars howling past me at a huge rate of knotts while covered by yellows. I suspect that this debate will rage for as long as motor sports use tyres.

[Raglanparade]

Why not make all the drivers hit the Pit-Lane speed limiter when going through a yellow sector.

So if there are Yellows out for Sector 1.. the cars must cruise at Pit lane speed through Sector 1.

anyone zapped at a higher speed gets a 10sec stop-go penality that must be taken under full green conditions.

[Hepatic]

1. the prospect of a car jumping from 200mph to 50mph at an unexpected part of the track could lead to more accidents.
2. most series' run cars that don't have limiters.
3. in most cases the extreme slow speeds used in pitlane are not necessary for a safe passage through a yellow, so it'd be somewhat unnessary and very unpopular with the drivers.

Really all it takes is a little common sense from the drivers. Yellows aren't thrown for the hell of it so if they value their cars / fellow drivers / marshals then their conscience should force them to slow anyway...

[MagnetON]

Originally Posted by Hepatic

... if they value their cars / fellow drivers / marshals then their conscience should force them to slow anyway...

At many (if not most) levels of motorsport these come distant down the list behind:

1. Winning
2. Winning
3. Winning
4. Get The Sponsors In
5. Stuffing The Guy That Beat Me Last Time

[whatapalaver]

Originally Posted by Hepatic

Really all it takes is a little common sense from the drivers.

Sorry. You've lost me...

[Asp]

It has previously been suggested that with the technology in F1 automatic slowing could happen. This would work in combination with the "dashboard flag marshal" (for lack of a better description) that automatically lights up when entering a yellow flag sector (and the sectors are down to 100yrds or other similarly accurate distance). It was a while ago, but it was mooted that this could be combined with electronics to automatically reduce to speed of the car to a suitable speed, and then the driver could accelerate away when clear of the danger area. I don't know what happened with this idea though...

[Stoowert]

The Americans in Champ Car tend to throw full-course yellows when any incident happens by-and-large. Plus they have at least 3 trucks stuffed full of their own heroes who deal with anything untoward on the track and beyond. I know this causes a fair amount of resentment among the response (incident) marshals but it does seem to work on street courses where there are any number of blind corners. But then again in NASCAR when a yellow is thrown theres an almighty sprint for the line! No thanks!