F1's blue flag rules are too extreme

The suitability of Formula 1's blue flag rules has been a big talking point since Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz's collision at the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend.

While Sainz was punished for an incident he could have avoided - even with the caveat of the malfunctioning of the automatic blue flag system - it has raised interesting questions about F1's blue flag rules themselves.

The FIA's International Sporting Code currently requires drivers to move out of the way when being lapped at "the first available opportunity".

The marshalling system gives a pre-warning when the faster car is within three seconds of the car it's lapping - teams can then warn their drivers - and then the car is within 1.2 seconds, lapped blue light panels will be displayed to the slower car.

Plus, blue cockpit lights (when the system functions, unlike in Hungary) will be displayed on the slower driver's steering wheel. 

Conor Daly, who's used to very different, more relaxed blue flag rules in IndyCar where drivers fight hard to stay on the lead lap in case a caution brings them back into play later in the race, joined Edd Straw and Glenn Freeman on the latest episode of The Race F1 Podcast to discuss all things blue flags and driver etiquette. 

Below is a taste of what they said but make sure you listen to the full episode here or watch it below.

"I don't think you can eliminate it, but I do think that you can't expect everyone to give up," Daly said.

"You can't eliminate the blue flags because you do want to see the best battle possible for the win. But you can't expect people to not want to race." 

Drivers having to make way at the "first available opportunity" usually equates to passing around three blue flags. 

That prompted Freeman to ponder whether "F1 has just maybe gone too far, like you have to get out of the way too quickly now.

"Three blue flags…I wonder if that's a bit too much. But obviously, like most things in F1, it's become more prescribed because people complained about the way it was before. 

"[Before] the blue flag was just kind of advising you that a faster car is behind. That's why some drivers became almost famous for being a bit rubbish at getting out of the way. There was an art form to making your way through traffic.

"Now there isn't really. But it's because the lead drivers, [if] they got held up for five corners or half a lap, they'd be complaining massively afterwards.

"I feel that maybe F1 overreacted and has now got to the point where, yeah, you see a handful of blue flags, you basically have to give up, let the leader by. Then you've kind of got to hope that someone else in front of you has to give up to let the leader by so you can get back on with your race."

Daly has a theory for how things can be improved.

"I can't picture racing without [blue flags] because certainly if I'm in the lead, I don't want to have to deal with any of that," he said.

"I don't want to have to deal with any lapped traffic. I want them to get out of the way as soon as possible. Don't ever want to see him again.

"I'll never forget, one of my very first chances to maybe win a race. 2016 IndyCar race [on the] Indy road course. I lost the race lead essentially, from trying to use my overtake button to pass a lapped car. And I'm like, 'how is this guy still in the way?' But that was just kind of part of our sport. He was able to defend because he didn't want to go a lap down.

"We didn't win the race because we lost too much time in traffic but it's not really comparable to Formula 1 because of how fast the lead cars are compared to the backmarkers.

"I do think that three marshals posts can come by very fast. [Maybe better if it's] 'hey, if you don't get by him in a lap, we're going to start getting very aggressive with this blue flag'.

"Three marshals posts and you're trying to battle a car in front of you. I don't know. I still think that there has to be an element of it's still a motor race for everyone that has to be thought about.

"If the leader can't get by in one lap within two seconds, I mean, the leader's got more problems than that."

Listen to or watch the full The Race F1 Podcast episode to hear the panel's full thoughts on blue flag, the Sainz/Piastri incident and whether F1 drivers complain too much over the team radio.