Flags, the safety car and penalties
Flags
A yellow flag means danger on that part of the track: slow down, no overtaking. Double yellow means be ready to stop. Green means the danger is behind you. Blue is shown to a driver about to be lapped: let the faster car through.
A red flag stops the session, and the cars return to the pit lane. Black and white is a warning for unsporting behaviour; black means disqualification. The chequered flag marks the finish.
The safety car
If there’s a crash or debris on the track, the safety car comes out. The drivers line up behind it, overtaking isn’t allowed, and the gaps close up — the race almost starts again. Many drivers choose to pit under the safety car: the stop costs them less time.
The Virtual Safety Car is the same idea without the car: everyone must drive no faster than a set time on each part of the track, and the gaps stay as they were.
Penalties
For breaking the rules, the stewards hand out penalties: five or ten seconds added to race time, a drive-through of the pit lane, a ten-second stop-and-go in the pits, a drop down the starting grid and, in extreme cases, disqualification.
Drivers also collect penalty points on their Super Licence. Twelve points in twelve months, and the driver misses a race.
Track limits
The edge of the track is the white line. If a driver crosses it with all four wheels, the lap is deleted in qualifying; in the race, doing it several times earns a penalty.
This chapter’s key term — .