David Coulthard has slammed the \u201ckindergarten\u201d behaviour of Formula 1 drivers after several blamed a blue-flag system failure for ignoring lapping traffic during the Hungarian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Although Oscar Piastri\u2019s clash with Carlos Sainz and Kimi Antonelli\u2019s traffic issues as he tried to keep Lewis Hamilton at bay made the headlines, it was an issue that hampered many drivers at the Hungaroring.<\/p>\n
David Coulthard criticises Formula 1 drivers over Hungarian Grand Prix blue flags<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust.<\/p>\n A system fault at the Hungaroring meant lapped cars were only shown manual blue flags, or light panels, with nothing appearing on the car\u2019s dash.<\/p>\n Instead, the drivers had to rely on their engineers, but that went horribly wrong. \u201cTeletubbies\u201d level of wrong, if you ask Toto Wolff.<\/p>\n Speaking to Sky F1 after the Grand Prix, where Antonelli had to fight his way through backmarkers as he tried to hold onto the final podium position ahead of Hamilton, the Mercedes team principal called out rival teams\u2019 race engineers.<\/p>\n \u201cCars at the back defending on the Lewis and Kimi fight, it\u2019s just disgraceful from some of the Teletubbies engineers that sit on the pit walls of these teams not telling the drivers what is happening behind,\u201d he decried. \u201cI\u2019m just not happy about the whole situation.\u201d<\/p>\n He wasn\u2019t the only person unhappy as Piastri\u2019s fight to hold onto the lead was undone when he tried to pass Sainz<\/a>. Although the Spaniard had been shown seven blue-flag boards, he did not move out of Piastri\u2019s way and continued to fight Fernando Alonso \u201clike it was the world championship\u201d.<\/p>\n The two collided when Piastri tried to lap Sainz.<\/p>\n Piastri told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media: \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe what happened. Getting crashed into by a lapped car is never one of the things you expect that can go wrong in your race.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSainz not only insisted it wasn\u2019t his fault but a \u2018racing incident\u2019; he also blamed Piastri, saying the McLaren driver should\u2019ve been a \u201cbit more careful, given that he\u2019s the one fighting for podiums and positioning himself a bit more cautiously because with all the issues we were all having with the blue flags.\u201d<\/p>\n Sainz was handed a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags, as was Oliver Bearman, who held up Isack Hadjar. <\/p>\n Although he felt \u201cbad\u201d about the situation, the Haas driver called the situation a \u201cnightmare\u201d, adding: \u201cThey [the blue flags] weren\u2019t working properly, so it was tough to know if it was you or the car behind or the car ahead or whatever getting the blue flag.\u201d<\/p>\n More on the blue flag confusion from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n New Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz evidence emerges after Hungarian Grand Prix penalty<\/a><\/p>\n Toto Wolff slams \u2018Teletubbies engineers\u2019 at Hungarian Grand Prix<\/a><\/p>\n Coulthard had no time for their excuses.<\/p>\n The 13-time Grand Prix winner blasted the drivers and their teams for being \u201cnot good enough\u201d in how they dealt with the situation. <\/p>\n After all, the race engineers could\u2019ve gone old-school and actually looked at the track and who was near their driver when he raced past them. That would\u2019ve given them an idea of what was going on even if the blue flag system wasn\u2019t working correctly. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was like the first day of school!\u201d he said on the Up to Speed podcast, \u201cand I\u2019m talking kindergarten in the way that drivers were reacting to blue flags.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, some will say the timing streams had an issue, but there is such a thing as just being spatially aware and your engineers actually looking over the pit wall.<\/p>\n \u201cI made this comment in commentary: very few of the teams now actually have a gap on their what is affectionately known as the prats perch, the engineering wall where the engineers and the team principal normally sit.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the case of Toto, of course, he\u2019s sitting back in the garage, but they look, and they did look over the pit wall back in the day, and you have a certain awareness of where the other cars are.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, you can\u2019t ever factor in qualifying on somebody coming out of the pit lane. But in a Grand Prix, when people are circulating at pace, you can usually tell. <\/p>\n \u201cWell, not usually\u2026 you absolutely can tell! It just wasn\u2019t good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n