Fernando Alonso claimed the FIA made “gross mistakes” in its reaction to Yuki Tsunoda’s crash during the final stage of qualifying.
The Aston Martin driver said he lost his chance to improve his lap time because the red flag was used too hastily. He also described how he was incorrectly sent into parc ferme before the session had finished.Alonso was nearing the end of his final lap in Q3 when Tsunoda went off at the exit of turn five and hit a barrier, heavily damaging his car. The session was quickly red-flagged which meant several drivers, including Alonso, were unable to complete their final runs.
He said the timing of the decision to red flag the session was one of the mistakes made by race control. “The truth is that the FIA sometimes gets it right and sometimes they make gross mistakes,” he told Spanish broadcaster DAZN. “Today they had made one.
Alonso said he was “a tenth and a half” quicker than his previous lap when the session was red-flagged.
The Medical Car was deployed in response to Tsunoda’s crash, which requires the session to be neutralised, which was why the red flag was shown. There was only 12 seconds between the yellow flag being shown in the sector where Tsunoda’s crash began and the red flags being displayed. This was followed 25 seconds later by the Medical Car being sent onto the track.
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The appearance of the red flag caused some confusion for Alonso and team mate Lance Stroll as both were incorrectly sent into the ‘parc ferme’ area by officials who incorrectly believed the session had ended. Once they realised their mistake, both Aston Martin drivers were allowed to drive back to their garages so they would be able to join the others in the restart.
“When entering the pit lane, Lance and I were put into parc ferme,” said Alonso. “They closed the pit lane. They put us into parc ferme, we got out of the car, then they told us that Q3 was starting again.”
However Alonso noted that as he had no further fresh tyres left, the error likely made no difference to his starting position.
“We went back to the car, they tightened our seatbelts, we went to the garage,” he said. “I had no more tyres, so I didn’t go out any more.”
“All these things don’t normally happen in these races,” added Alonso, who is F1’s most experienced driver.
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Red Andy (@red-andy)
20th July 2024, 23:10
Nice superlicence you’ve got there Fernando. Would be a shame if some more penalty points happened to it.
Ben
20th July 2024, 23:42
Alonso talking absolute nonsense as usual.
He really does believe the world revolves around him doesn’t he. Him being in the last corner had nothing to do with it. There were several cars on their way towards a huge crash with potential barrier damage. They threw the red quickly because it was the safest option.
Seems being beaten by the pay driver is getting to the old man.
Addme (@dontme)
21st July 2024, 7:24
Safety was never an issue. They were already waving double yellow. I was watching on Russel his onboard and he got the team radio and you could see it with plenty of time.
I don’t know if Alonso is right about this unspoken rule, but safety wise it wouldn’t be a problem to let him finish the lap. Though I suspect stopping the clock with enough time for everyone to make a last run might have also been a consideration
RandomMallard
21st July 2024, 7:43
@dontme While the incident itself was indeed covered by a double yellow, I would assume the force of the crash probably meant the medical car was required to attend, and that requires a red flag before it’s allowed on track.
Addme (@dontme)
21st July 2024, 11:28
Good call. I forgot that a high G-force crash triggers the system and automatically means red flag for medical car in practice and qualifying
anon
21st July 2024, 9:20
@dontme it has been confirmed that the deceleration of Tsunoda’s car triggered the automatic warning system on the car that sends a signal to race control and the medical car that a driver has had a violent crash.
In those circumstances, the FIA’s medical protocols state that the medical car should be deployed as quickly as possible, given that an accident of that severity is more likely to cause injuries to a driver (particularly concussion or related cranial injuries). That, in turn, requires the red flag to be shown as quickly as possible to allow the medical car to enter the circuit and reach the crash site more quickly.
BasCB (@bascb)
21st July 2024, 13:15
Exactly – there is a reason we have these systems. In a heavy crash every second might count.
Tricky (@tricky)
21st July 2024, 11:12
Marshalls at the closest post probably called in a big accident, and wanted to get people to the car quickly to help.
Drivers have demonstrated time and time again that they do not properly respect double waved yellows, and are happy to believe a little lift at 200kph s the same as being prepared to stop.
Delayed a red flag just means more and more cars coming past the indicent. Alonso might have finished his lap, and yet more car behind started hot laps behind him, instead they were forced to pit.
And how many times have we complained that the red flag was too slow, and hence time was lost for cars try and make another lap. In this case by calling it quickly, there was opportunity to make another flying lap attempt.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
21st July 2024, 9:09
They did the same thing in China where they prematurely red flagged when Sainz spun and continued. It’s important to assess the hierarchy of flags. A double waved yellow for drivers approaching the accident is sufficient – it means slow down be prepared to stop. The other drivers in a lap should be able to continue. It was a kneejerk reaction, again, which is a mistake – regardless of what you think of Alonso personally.
MadMax (@madmax)
21st July 2024, 9:28
Medical car on active track, just cause Mr Alonso wants to complete his lap. Nonsense. Maybe Mr. Alonso needs a bit more experience to judge things correctly.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
21st July 2024, 9:46
I understand that but there’s a 25 second gap between the red flag and the medical car being deployed. During that time Tsunoda has said, “I’m OK” and 8 seconds after the medical car is deployed, Yuki is out of the car unaided.
My question is – why not throw a double yellow until the medical car is deployed?
Why does your opinion change if Alonso is involved?
bosyber (@bosyber)
21st July 2024, 11:39
25 seconds, which gave most drivers time to get near the pits and leave an empty track for the medical car, not sure that is excessive. If you don’t throw the red flag many of those cars will finish the lap and start another, so all of them will go past the accident before going to the pits. I think that the protocol isn’t a bad thing safety wise.
anon
21st July 2024, 11:53
@rbalonso because, as per the FIA’s medical protocols, when the onboard systems are triggered to show that a particularly violent accident has occurred that creates the risk of potential cranial injuries, the red flag is to be deployed as soon as practical to make all cars slow down rapidly to facilitate the deployment of the medical car.
In those circumstances, the medical team does not know for certain that the driver will be OK, and therefore the approach is to adopt a more cautious approach based on the presumption that the driver could have been badly injured. With your response, you are applying a hefty dose of retrospective knowledge – Tsunoda might have said he was OK, but not until after the red flag was deployed.
Furthermore, in stating that Tsunoda got out of the car unaided, it implies that you think that Tsunoda was OK. The problem there is that we have seen instances where a driver might have got out of the car unaided and superficially seemed OK, but was actually more severely injured than it might have first appeared.
Alonso himself would be one such example, where he initially did not appear to be too badly injured following his crash during testing back in 2015, but then went on to develop symptoms of concussion that showed he had been more badly injured than first appeared.
A more extreme example would be that of Mark Donohue in 1975 during practice for the Austrian GP. He is thought to have struck his head on a fence post when he crashed, but he got out of the car by himself and initially appeared to be perfectly fine. It wasn’t until later the following day, when he initially complained of severe pain in his head and then began experiencing convulsions, that he was taken for medical treatment at the nearest hospital, where he was diagnosed with a cerebral hemorrhage that proved to be fatal.
There have been quite a few drivers over the years who initially did not appear to have been too badly injured and got out of a car by themselves, but then subsequently turned out to have suffered more severe cranial injuries. In those circumstances, the medical team still have to take the attitude that, even if a driver might superficially seem OK, they could still have cranial injuries that do not immediately manifest themselves and the sooner that medical intervention can be applied, the better.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
21st July 2024, 13:38
I think if the G sensor is an automatic red flag then that should be automated, not a 12 second delay.
I think you both make fair points – I wouldn’t have allowed Tsunoda to leave the car until the medical car arrived given there was no fire and marshals present. But I don’t understand why a double waved yellow for those approaching the incident is insufficient.
I’d also contest that the medical car doesn’t and shouldn’t have to wait for the track to be cleared. We have a safety car on track most races, cars could have finished the lap if they were in the final sector and then slowly followed the medical vehicle.
If the incident is serious enough for a red flag the medical car should be out of the pits within 15 seconds not 37 in my opinion. If there’s deliberation and the driver is stating they are ok, I don’t see why a double yellow is an outrageous position to hold. As I stated in my first comment, they threw a red completely unnecessarily in Shanghai and whilst the G sensor issue is a noticeable difference, I’m against the number of red flags that are flown and the speed at which the decision is made similar to Australia 2023.
David BR (@david-br)
21st July 2024, 11:56
@rbalonso It was a heavy crash. FIA’s reaction has to be instantly focused on the safety of the driver, not lap times. Alonso would presumably expect the same care to be shown for him.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
21st July 2024, 13:42
I’m not disputing that – I’m questioning why a double waved yellow can’t be thrown whilst they are preparing the medical car. If the FIA’s opinion is that g sensor exceptions are a red flag then fair enough, but given there was a 12 second delay, it suggests that there is an element of discretion. For me, we should red flag the session, but only once the medical car is ready, and a double waved yellow is fine until that point.
Pete aron
21st July 2024, 0:17
You know, after embarrasing Johnny Herbert, and Herbert’s retaliation against Alonso as a race steward, you’d think Alonso would have learned his lesson. Now the stewards (not sure who it is this race) will be on the war path against him again. Keep your mouth shut, Fernando. There’s nothing to be gained.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
21st July 2024, 3:03
It sucks, sure, but that required an instant red flag. It’s quite concerning how Tsunoda was launched into the barrier. A tad reminiscent of Barrichello at imola ’94 without the sudden stop of course.
Jere (@jerejj)
21st July 2024, 5:39
Nothing wrong with the qualifying suspension timing & if anything, suspending the session could’ve been done even sooner, by at least 10 seconds.
Btw, I’ve never heard or read about any such claimed spoken rule regarding track positions.
Scary Terry (@hatebreeder)
21st July 2024, 5:49
Here’s my 2 cents on this issue. I think the solution here is to do sector wise red flagging. If the crash happened in sector 1, red flag just sector 1. If the crash happened in sector 2, red flag sectors 1 & 2. If the crash happened in sector 3, red flag the entire track.That way people who are on their hot laps are at least allowed to complete their laps as long as they have already passed the sector where the incident happened. Crashes in F1 happen all the time. There is no need to red flag the entire track for qualifying at least. During races it absolutely makes sense to red flag the entire track.
BLS (@brightlampshade)
21st July 2024, 7:29
He’s got a point on the parc ferme, but it’s just frustration talking with regards to the red flag. Throwing a red flag ASAP is not usual in a qualifying session. Especially when they want to get vehicles onto the track.
BLS (@brightlampshade)
21st July 2024, 11:33
not *unusual
GregBMx
21st July 2024, 9:08
It’s not the first time that a late red flag has stopped qualifying. I can get behind the parc ferme confusion but “I was in the last corner, so they shouldn’t throw the red flag” makes no sense. Ricciardo had just started his hot lap, so should he have been allowed to run the whole lap?!
David BR (@david-br)
21st July 2024, 11:45
Yes because what matters is Alonso being a tenth up, not Tsunoda’s safety in a heavy crash.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
21st July 2024, 12:22
I think Alonso is just a bit frustrated. But he does seem only to be thinking about his own qualifying/position. I think we can all see his point but the thing is other people may have been on fast laps or started them without the red flag.
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
21st July 2024, 13:40
I did some digging & it seems like at some point in the past 2 years during a drivers briefing a verbal agreement was made after a discussion about red flags in qualifying in which the race director said that if an accident occurred in sector 1/2 and cars on hot laps were around the final corner they would hold off on calling a red flag to allow that car to cross the line & finish the lap.
An exception to that agreement would be in cases where the accident bringing out the red flag was especially serious & it was felt it wasn’t safe to delay calling it.