FIA acknowledges mistakes with 'meatball flag': 'Overcorrection on our part'

The black-orange flag, also known as the 'meatball flag', is used when a driver drives with damage to the car that could pose a danger to other drivers. For example, damaged parts may fall off the car or the car may no longer be stable enough on the track to safely finish the race.

The system attracted criticism last year. In total, the flag was used six times last season, including three times for Kevin Magnussen. The Haas team was obviously not happy about this, as it forced the Dane to make pit stops that the team felt were unnecessary. Bigger controversy still came when Fernando Alonso received a time penalty for a loose mirror after the race in Austin, which forced him down several spots. Only four days after the race, the ruling was withdrawn.

'It remains tricky'

Tombazis has acknowledged that the FIA was a little too enthusiastic in applying the flag. "We saw retrospectively that some cars had not been shown a flag," Tombazis said. "We had a situation in Baku where a car entered the track that really shouldn't have done so. There we got it wrong. Then I think that created a bit of an over-reaction where we started deeming cars unsafe even when they were on the limit, let’s say, so we went in the wrong direction, and took some corrective action after the US."

"It's difficult, of course," Tombazis continued. "We would still black and orange flag a car with serious structural damage, like Hamilton in Singapore for example when his wing was scraping the floor. But in 99 per cent of the cases the teams bring the cars in anywhere themselves so it removes the need for intervention."