The director of the Williams team, James Vowles, recently addressed the incident that occurred during the Hungarian Grand Prix between drivers Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri. In his statements, Vowles took responsibility on behalf of the team and emphasized the failures of the FIA’s automatic blue flag system as contributing factors to the collision.
In an episode of his show Vowles Verdict, Vowles explained the sequence of events that led to the accident, clarifying that Sainz did not make any intentional error. He noted that the incident occurred due to issues with the race control technology and a delayed reaction from Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso.
According to Vowles, the error began with the failure of the automatic GPS blue flag system, which typically activates when a leader is 1.6 seconds behind a slower driver. In Hungary, this system failed, and the marshals were forced to revert to traditional flags first, before switching to a blue light system that did not specify which driver should yield.
Vowles commented that: ‘The flag system simply was not working as expected. Traditionally, the marshals are the ones who wave the flags, but without knowing when the vehicles arrive, this is complicated for them.’ This confusion caused the drivers to hold their positions for too long, increasing the risk of accidents.
The Williams director went on to explain that, during the race, Fernando Alonso took the opportunity to overtake Sainz at a time when he was becoming the slower driver. This further complicated the situation, as Sainz found himself in a vulnerable position during the driver switch.
To complicate matters, communication with Sainz was not the best. Vowles acknowledged that they should have alerted Sainz earlier about Piastri’s presence at the right moment, instead of opting for a late warning. ‘Our responsibility here was not to communicate the situation properly,’ he added.
As a result of this incident, Sainz received a five-second penalty, finishing the race in 18th position. Piastri, on the other hand, had to retire due to a gearbox issue, a situation that prevented both drivers from achieving a better result.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
SourceID: SRC_285b21cfc8e2f4ad3bad546ca780287ab8aa5b28