30 replies to this topic

[molive]

I was watching a F3 race this weekend, and the winner (I forgot his name) did something that was common a few years ago: he stopped by the wall and somebody handed him a Brazilian flag, which he held during the victory lap and in the podium.

I remember a guy named Senna made us all proud when he did that at the end of races. I dunno if it was him that started the trend and if other drivers also did it, but I though it was a great way of lifting up the national spirits (it felt good anyway). I also remember he promised to grab an Austrian flag in his victory lap in Imola to pay hommage to Ratzenberger...sadly he couldn´t do it.



Now, with all this discussion about national anthems going on, I ask: do the current actually care about their country at all? are they racing for their country too or solely for themselves? Why no flag waving? Why play the damm anthems after all? Have Michael or Mika ever took their respective national flags in their victory laps?
I understand JV not wanting to carry the Maple Leaf or the Fleur-de-Liz around (with all the political meaning of it), but the others? Has F1 gotten too business-like? Or the current drivers just don´t care?


your thoughts?

[Arnaldo]

Not allowed anymore. Fans are not allowed on teh track after the race - too dangerous or something.

[molive]

Doesn´t justify it. A mechanic could do it. Or the driver could carry a small flag in the cockpit (I know some do).

[tifosi]

I remeber basically, that around the the time of Senna doing this in 92 or 93, it came out that you couldn't stop on the track. I guess in theory a fan could jump a fence, run out and jog along side a car to hand over a flag. I think at some point Senna actually carried a Brazilian flag with him after that. Senna is really the only one I remember doing this on a regular basis. I don't think it has anything to do 'loving one's country', (far as I know, 99.9% of all F1 drivers country is Monaco). To some peoples displaying the flag in such a crass manner is considered disrespectful, to others its a celebration of national pride. I would expect that F1 drivers, as a group, or more 'internationally-minded' than the average person, and don't go in for such nationalism. After all, in the end, we are all supposed to be one big happy ball floating in space

[baddog]

I think its just a safety thing, the FIA put over firmly what their view was on things like flags hanging out of cars or drivers riding each others sidepods (everyone remember THAT great image?)

Shaun

[molive]

This is all nonsense.

I agree that a Zanardi-type doughnut or a ride in the back of a F1 may be a bit too dangerous, but carrying a small flag?

[Arnaldo]

Hey!! Wasn't that Senna who was getting a lift back on teh side pod, and when a marshall tried to stop him, he tried to kick out at the marshal?
I have no qualms about anyone carrying their national flag - many of the athletes at the Olympics did after they won.

[MrAerodynamicist]

Brundle pointed something out as spa that I hadn't conscouly[sp] noticed - that where possible the drivers don't even do a slowing down lap but pull off into perc farme. At spa, this can be done just after la source, pulling into the pitlane exit. 'parently done due to all the track invasions.

[Louis Mr. F1]

i think the last time a driver carried a flag after a victory was the Britain 94 race, Hill carried the Union Jack after he won the race and i haven't seen anyone done that since.

also maybe the last time a driver carried another driver was the 97 German race, MS carried Fisichella after GF retired late in the race and MS was fined for doing this, too dangerous according to the FIA

Mr. A, regarding the Spa race, i think it's because Spa is a very long circuit, if they had to do a slow down lap there, it would take about 3-4 min and maybe the FIA thinks it's too long and not good for the TV package. that's why they always go straight to the parc ferme after the race finished. can anyone confirm this?

[miniman]

Nationalism is a thing of the past. Besides, today's technology is so far advanced that it requires the cooperation of various entities from many different countries so why wave one flag only?

[molive]

Originally posted by miniman
Nationalism is a thing of the past

That´s a good one. Why play the 2 anthems then?
Will Honda feel cheated when hey play the Canadian and the British anthems for BAR? Or the Irish one for Jordan?

[Elspeth]

When Senna died, they found he had an Austrian flag tucked in his driver's suit. He was going to wave it in honor of Roland Ratzenberger at the end of the race.

[mahelgel]

Elspeth:
Didn't know that... would have been great if he'd won and waved the Austrian flag...

[Jackman]

The FIA outlawed the practice of waving a national flag in either 94 or 95 - they considered it was a danger as it could go into the radiators (or somesuch nonsense). Also to stop someone running on to give them a flag (could look as if the FIA was allowing a track invasion ).

[Mila]

Louis Mr. F1 and Jackman, I believe that the practice was forbidden by the time Hill stopped for the Union Jack at Silverstone in 94.

it didn't stop him though.

[mhferrari]

What about Panis Monaco 96'.
If I won, I would drive my car and weave throughout the track (like I warming the tires up) and do like Barrichello partially standing in the car and wave the Stars and Stripes proudly!

[PeaQ]

you may not stop on the slowing down lap, but to proceed directly to the perc fermé.

makes one wonder about MS victory at Silverstone '98...

[Ray Bell]

As mentioned, where is the justification?
The designer is a pom, the car is built in England, the head mechanic might be Australian, the driver Brazilian, the engine Japanese, the gearbox American, the tyres French... where would it all end, and where is it fair to stop?

[molive]

I reckon there are only two elements there (thus, two flags): the car and the driver. The rest are mere parts of the car which unite under the flag of the main manufacturer (or assembler, for that matter).


If a driver wants to show his national pride to the world, what's the problem with that? I know of many drivers who wouldn't do it (like Piquet, for ex.) it's just not their style or they don't feel obliged to do it, but others feel like they should do it.

As mentioned above, the olimpic athletes (almost all of them) do it, aren't F1 driver allowed to do the same?

what is more important, to get a gold medal (or any medal) at an olimpic games or win the Monaco GP?

[PeaQ]

isn't there loads of national-flag-colored helmets? huh?

[mhferrari]

I did not know about Ayrton Senna and the Austrian flag. Just goes to show you how great a man he was.

[Williams]

There is no finer spectacle at an F1 race than to see the winner take a victory lap with the biggest possible national flag fluttering over his head. Unfortunately a practice we will probably never see again.

[Ross Stonefeld]

I'd wave a flag if like, I won my first GP at home, I clinched the WC, or I clinched the WC at home. Something *big* id do doughnuts too, but I never said that and Mad Max doesnt need to hear it.

Ross Stonefeld
Aztec International

[Rainstorm]

Damon Hill was actually fined heavily for stopping on track to pick up that Union Jack in Silverstone 1994. He was ordered to that famous World Council meeting after the race (that meeting where Schumacher got a two-race ban) due to that, and he got a very big fine (I think $50,000 though I'm not sure on the sum).

It's not the waving of the flag that is no longer allowed, it's stopping or slowing down significantly on the slow-down lap that was made illegal at the start of the 1994 season.

Regards,

Rainstorm

[molive]

So, the teams should build in-car automatic flag poles which pop out as you pass by the chequered flag.

Seriously, I noticed RB carries a small Brazilian flag with him to the podium, so either he has it with him in the cockpit or someone hands it to him after the race.

[Witt]

Panis was the last guy i saw do this flag waving stuff. I distinctly remember Murray saying "Gee, i hope he doesn't get disqualified for stopping on the slowing down lap". As for what happened to Panis, i never heard.

I reckon it's great to see the drivers waving their flag and showing a bit of emotion on their slowing down laps. These guys are so rich that they can afford the fines, so i hope that someday someone else reignites this trend.

Also, watching a driver "pick up" another driver and carry them on their air-box is cool, and if anything shows the sportsmenship and respect that the drivers hold for each other. Who can forget the time when Schumi carried Alesi to the pits in Canada 95? It just looked special. I hope that this thing never dies.

[PAD]

Molive - I have seen Rubens being given a brazilian flag by one of the Ferrari crew once he got to parc ferme.

Interestingly this is before he was weighed, and so the flag must have been included. Now if a driver was to be given a few lead bricks .... or is that another thread topic?

[molive]

Just ocurred to me: we may get to see a Colombian flag waving in the near future...but then again, maybe not.;)

[Caíco Caralho]

Brazilian news...

Rubens Barrichello always carries a folded brazilian flag inside his overall, holding it everytime he got a podium finish (when he was at Stewart) and now in the case of victory.

In the 1986'Brazilian GP, Piquet (1st) and Senna (2nd) held together a brazilian flag in the podium
In CART this year, the brazilian drivers held flags everytime they were in the podium...

[coyoteBR]

With all due respect to your opinion, people, there's only a reason for no more flag waving at F-1 cars:

Flags could cover sponsors names

That's why brazilian André Ribeiro used to wave the Flag behind his body, alowing full view of the sponsors of his overall.

Did anyone miss the times when drivers like José Carlos Pace, due to the heat, opened his overall, going to the podium with a almost plain white shirt?

[molive]

Those were the days...