F1 drivers back penalties for triggering flags in qualifying

The issue became a talking point in Azerbaijan last weekend after Fernando Alonso went down an escape road towards the end of Q1, bringing out a yellow flag and spoiling the laps of anyone behind who might have had a chance of beating him.

Alex Albon, who was immediately behind the Alpine driver, made it clear that he thought Alonso had gone off track in a deliberate effort to frustrate his rivals.

The issue of drivers playing such games, especially at street tracks, made the headlines at the 2006 Monaco GP.

On that occasion Michael Schumacher was excluded from qualifying after the stewards determined that he had deliberately stopped on track at Rascasse, effectively ending the session early and securing pole position.

A similar incident occurred at the same venue in 2014, when Nico Rosberg went down the Mirabeau escape road, thwarting the final effort of team-mate Lewis Hamilton. The German survived an investigation without sanction.

After qualifying for this year's Monaco race, Max Verstappen suggested that penalties should be imposed to those causing red flags after losing his final Q3 lap to someone else's accident for a second year in a row.

Although there was no official documentation associated with their enquiry, it's understood the FIA stewards conducted an informal investigation of the Alonso incident last weekend, with the Spaniard and Alpine sporting director Alan Permane seen leaving Baku race control on Sunday morning. Team boss Otmar Szafnauer also paid a visit.

Although the stewards took no action, their suspicions were alerted sufficiently to trigger a discussion about a possible solution to the problem.

Fernando Alonso, Alpine

Photo by: Alpine

The F1 sporting regulations already contain an article that