David Coulthard criticized the performance of drivers and teams after the problems with the blue flags during the Hungarian Grand Prix of Formula 1 last Sunday (26). The former driver stated that the situation at Hungaroring showed a lack of spatial awareness among the competitors and compared the episode to the “first day of school.”
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The FIA’s (International Automobile Federation) automated blue flag system failed during Sunday’s race, causing the warnings to slower cars to be done manually by track marshals. The problem caused difficulties for drivers seeking overtakes, notably the contact between Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri.
Sainz stated that the accident was “impossible to avoid,” but onboard footage showed that the Williams driver received blue flag warnings and was also informed by his engineer about Piastri’s approach.
The Australian showed irritation with the incident: “Yeah, I knew there were problems with the blue flags, but there was a blue flag at every marshal’s signal. I was right behind him. I couldn’t believe what happened. Being hit by a lapped car is never one of the things you expect to go wrong in your race. I really don’t care if he didn’t see me. The fact that he didn’t see and no one warned him, or the total lack of situational awareness, is unacceptable.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff also criticized the teams and called the engineers “Teletubbies” for not properly alerting their drivers.
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On the Up to Speed podcast, Coulthard said the technical failure could not be the only explanation for the problem: “We need to talk about the blue flag scenario in Budapest,” he said. “It was like the first day of school! And I’m talking kindergarten in the way the drivers reacted to the blue flags.”
The Brit highlighted the importance of communication between drivers and engineers, noting that teams need to better track the position of cars during races.
“But there is something called spatial awareness, and your engineers really looking over the pit wall. Very few teams now have a space in what is affectionately called the ‘prat perch’ [the engineers’ counter], the engineering wall where engineers and the team principal usually stand.”
For Coulthard, drivers and teams should be able to identify the approach of other cars at race pace: “But in a grand prix, when people are running at race pace, you usually can tell. Well, not usually — you definitely can tell! It just wasn’t good enough,” he concluded.
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