What is a Black Flag in F1?

27 HULKENBERG Nico (ger), Haas F1 Team VF-24 Ferrari, action getting pushed by Marshalls

The drama keeps on piling up at the 2024 Sao Paulo GP. Franco Colapinto’s heavy crash under the Safety Car prompted a Red Flag, bringing the race to a halt. Meanwhile, in the pits, Nico Hulkenberg’s race took a serious hit when the FIA Stewards showed him the Black Flag, ending his run at Interlagos.

Black Flags are not a common occurrence in modern-day F1. However, they still do exist under the regulations of the FIA. A Black Flag is usually shown to a driver when he has been disqualified by the stewards.

The standard procedure is to display the driver’s race number alongside the Black Flag to indicate disqualification. At the time of writing, the Kannapolis-based team issued a statement explaining the reason behind Hulkenberg’s disqualification.

According to the Sporting Regulations, drivers are prohibited from receiving assistance to rejoin any session. After car #27 beached itself outside Turn 1, the marshals pushed it back onto the track, resulting in the stewards issuing a race-ending penalty to the Haas driver.

When the race resumed after the Red Flag, the German driver was not permitted to rejoin the proceedings with the other drivers. However, no penalty points were added to Hulkenberg’s super license, as these infringements are not considered a direct threat to the sport’s safety standards.

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee
Haas Nico Hulkenberg Sao Paulo GP

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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