An investigation opened into the mess of the last lap at Suzuka

The electronic checkered flag was waved a lap too early at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix. The FIA has launched an investigation to prevent such an error from happening again, while this device was implemented after another fault, in Canada in 2018 .

Published on 15/10/2019 à 11:05

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An investigation opened into the mess of the last lap at Suzuka

The best is the enemy of good. This is what the International Automobile Federation (FIA) demonstrated during the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix. At Suzuka, a technical problem caused the appearance of the electronic checkered flag one lap before the finish scheduled, in the 52nd of 53 rounds.

This allowed Sergio Pérez (Racing Point) to keep his ninth place, even though he was hit by Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) at the start of the 53rd passage.

This last-lap lunge didn't go to plan

Despite crashing out on the final lap, Sergio Perez was still classified in P9 – with Gasly P8 – after the race results were counted a lap early#JapaneseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/JDBCzU7t06

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 14, 2019

Asked about this hiccup, Michael Masi, the FIA Race Director, explained that a « investigation would be carried out. There is an element of human and electronic error. This is why we just have to look at exactly what happened. »

This process, where technology takes precedence over the humanly waved flag at the finish line, was implemented this season after the 2018 Canadian Grand Prix blunder. Supermodel Winnie Harlow waved the flag a lap too early, causing confusion in the peloton.

Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), who had been destabilized by this incident in Montreal, details how he was able to run one more lap, even though the classification was stopped. “From a driver's point of view, it's very clear that there were no checkered flags.

We have a display board on the pit wall which gives us information on the laps covered, we have a screen on the steering wheel to tell us how many laps remain to be completed. I could see there was still one lap left, and I got confirmation over the radio that there was one lap left. »

Ultimately, technology does not solve all problems, and can even create new ones…

Medhi Casaurang

Passionate about the history of motorsport across all disciplines, I learned to read thanks to AUTOhebdo. At least that's what my parents tell everyone when they see my name inside!

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An investigation opened into the mess of the last lap at Suzuka

The electronic checkered flag was waved a lap too early at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix. The FIA has launched an investigation to prevent such an error from happening again, while this device was implemented after another fault, in Canada in 2018 .

Medhi Casaurang

Passionate about the history of motorsport across all disciplines, I learned to read thanks to AUTOhebdo. At least that's what my parents tell everyone when they see my name inside!

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An investigation opened into the mess of the last lap at Suzuka

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Passionate about the history of motorsport across all disciplines, I learned to read thanks to AUTOhebdo. At least that's what my parents tell everyone when they see my name inside!

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The electronic checkered flag was waved a lap too early at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix. The FIA has launched an investigation to prevent such an error from happening again, while this device was implemented after another fault, in Canada in 2018 .