David Coulthard on the blue-flag fiasco: “Are we in a nursery here?”

Bizarre scenes at the traditional Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring: The blue flags displayed on the signal boards didn’t always work, so the hard-working marshals were called upon to wave these flags, and some drivers apparently forgot what blue means – watch out, a faster car is approaching! Let them past!

Prime examples of the ensuing chaos: Sainz cut across Piastri’s path, resulting in a collision. And Bortoleto acted as if championship leader Antonelli wasn’t behind him.

But it wasn’t just the marshals who were called upon in this situation. Good communication between the command posts in the pits and the drivers was even more important than usual. And that’s where some of the engineers let the side down.

David Coulthard couldn’t believe his eyes at what he was seeing. The 55-year-old Scot (246 Grands Prix, 13 wins, World Championship runner-up in 2001) criticised the situation on the Up to Speed podcast: “Are we in a nursery or on the first day of school? Because that’s exactly how some of the drivers behaved. After the race, some tried to excuse themselves by saying the electronic display wasn’t working. All I can say is – so what?”

“A racing driver – and indeed a race engineer – has to be top of their game when it comes to spatial awareness. They have to know what’s going on out on the track! And anyone who relies too much on screens and data should, for a change, actually look out at the track.”

“No, sorry, I won’t accept any of that. Admittedly, things can get a bit hectic in qualifying, and after a pit stop it’s not always easy to tell how a driver is lining up. But during a normal race, the engineers must be able to assess the gaps correctly and warn their drivers accordingly. Whether the electronic flags failed or not, that was simply inadequate.”