F1 is among the most popular sports in the world, and it has grown immensely over the last few years. Twenty of the world’s best racing drivers take control of the fastest cars out there and compete for glory until the chequered flag is waved, but who actually waves this chequered flag?
A chequered flag being waved means that a particular race has come to an end. This isn’t just the case in F1 but in every single form of motorsport and one particular person is always assigned to this task.
A sporting great waved the chequered flag in Sunday’s race 🏁
Top job, @serenawilliams 👏👏👏 #MonacoGP 🇲🇨 #F1 pic.twitter.com/LFbvJES6gK
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 23, 2021
Often, we have seen some of the biggest celebrities in the world take the effort of waving this flag since it is considered to be an honor. Although, do only celebrities and important figures wave this flag? Or do others get a shot at performing one of the most important activities during an F1 race weekend?
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What is a chequered flag?
A chequered flag is made of small squares that are black and white in color but is the most significant flag for all drivers and teams. This is because, when a race is over, it is waved and it officially indicates that the drivers have scored points (or haven’t).
However, this flag is not only shown at the end of a Grand Prix race. During free practice and qualifying, the end of the session is official only after the chequered flag has been waved.
The person who is waving this flag has to make sure that he or she starts with the leading car and continues until the last car has crossed the finish line.
Who waves the F1 chequered flag?
In most cases, the person who waves the F1 chequered flag is a race official from the FIA. However, in many cases, the organizers of some races call over a famous celebrity to bring in more eyeballs.
Waving the chequered flag seems like an easy job, but there has to be a proper amount of training a person has to go through before they are asked to carry this task out. In several instances, we have seen celebrities mess up the finish of a race because they waved the flag incorrectly.
Who can forget Apple CEO Tim Cook waving the chequered flag in the most unenthusiastic way possible at the 2022 United States Grand Prix in Austin?
At the 2002 Brazilian GP in Interlagos, football legend Pele forgot to wave the flag for Michael Schumacher, although it did not affect his P1 finish in any way. On top of that, there have been several cases where the chequered flag was waved a lap or two too early, which confused all the drivers and teams.
These goof-ups provide us with a good enough explanations as to why fans aren’t allowed to wave the chequered flag at the end of a race or session.
