F1 fans split over abolition of controversial 30-year rule

Blue flags are a topic of hot debate in F1, and have been since they were adopted in 1995. 

There are some who argue that they are a good way of ensuring back-marker traffic does not have an impact on the lead of a grand prix, with the leaders waved through after three marshal posts, whilst others contend that managing such traffic is part of winning a grand prix and that if the leader gets held up behind slower traffic, then tough. 

Sky F1 commentator Martin Brundle recently explained: “I think we should ban blue flags, drivers have lost the skills of working and managing the traffic as we used to do. I quite like that.

“Now everybody has to jump out the way, like school kids when the big boys come through in the faster cars.”

With that in mind, RacingNews365 ran a poll simply asking readers if they would support a ban, with the results close. 

Some 46.46% of respondents voted in favour of a blue flag ban, compared to 43.95% of those who felt the current system would stay. There were just 23 votes out of those casts between the two options, with 9.60% unsure. 

In the comments section, reader Paul Woodthorpe however offered a slightly different solution to blue flags. 

“I propose a different blue flag solution. When shown a blue flag, you have 1-lap to move out of the way of the lapping car,” he wrote. 

“If you get the blue flag at Turn 11, you have until you reach Turn 11 on the next lap to have allowed them to get through. This gives the lapped car the time to allow them through in a section of track that doesn’t disadvantage them but still **** the leader on tracks like Monaco. 

“It also adds slight drama in backmarkers not just jumping out of the way as they may hold the leader up for almost a lap. I think the blue flag rule is needed for so many street tracks, but I do think that the “3 flags and punished” and how random the flags are at times is confusing.

“I think if they do it similar to DRS and are awarded a Blue Flag when the lapping car is within one second, they get that full lap to then allow the pass. If the leader wants to pass faster than the backmarker is happy to do, then they will have to muscle past with an overtake.”

Fellow reader Rick Wardenaar, however, felt the problem was not blue flags themselves, but how drivers are told about them.

“It isn’t a problem for the overtaking driver, it is the “Lance Stroll” quality of looking in the mirrors and bad team radios warming the car that is going to be lapped,” he said. 

“They even miss blue flags and a blue Light on their steering wheel these days…. so as so often, Brundle isn’t right!”