List of red-flagged Formula One races
, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open-wheeled auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which all participants and vehicles must conform. The F1 World Championship season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, usually held on purpose-built circuits, and in a few cases on closed city streets. The results of each race are combined to determine two annual championships, one for drivers and one for constructors.
A red flag is shown when there has been an accident or the track conditions are poor enough to warrant the race being stopped. The flags are displayed by the marshals at various points around the circuit. A Global Positioning System marshalling system was introduced in 2007. It involves a display of flag signals in the driver's cockpit, which alerts them to the accident. Following a red flag being shown, the exit of the pit lane is closed and cars must proceed to the pit lane slowly without overtaking, lining up at the pit exit. From 2005, a ten-minute warning is given before the race is resumed behind the safety car, which leads the field for a lap before it returns to the pit lane. Previously, the race was restarted in race order from the penultimate lap before the red flag was shown. If a race is unable to be resumed, "the results will be taken at the end of the penultimate lap before the lap during which the signal to suspend the race was given". If 75 per cent of the race distance has not been completed and the race cannot be resumed, half points are awarded. No points are awarded if the race cannot be restarted and less than two laps have been completed.
Since the first World Championship Grand Prix in 1950, red flags have been shown in seventy races, with the latest one being at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix on 25 June 2017. Twenty-six were restarted on the first lap. Thirteen races were not restarted, nine because of rain and four due to accidents involving drivers. Five races were stopped due to incidents that resulted in fatalities: The 1975 Spanish Grand Prix was stopped on lap twenty-nine and not restarted after Rolf Stommelen's car crashed into a spectator area, killing five people. The 1978 Italian Grand Prix was red-flagged after a massive crash that ultimately contributed to the death of Ronnie Peterson. The 1982 Canadian Grand Prix was halted on the first lap after Riccardo Paletti was killed when his car collided with the back of Didier Pironi's Ferrari. The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was red-flagged on lap five following the fatal accident of Ayrton Senna, in which his car crashed into a wall at the Tamburello curve. The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix was red-flagged for a second time following a serious collision between Jules Bianchi and a recovery vehicle which would ultimately prove to be fatal.
Red-flagged races
- The "Lap" column identifies the lap on which the race was stopped.
- The "R" column indicates whether or not the race was restarted:
Race | Lap | Winner | Incident that prompted red flag | Failed to make the restart | Ref. | |
1950 Indianapolis 500 | 138 | N | Rain. | |||
1971 Canadian Grand Prix | 64 | N | Rain. | |||
1973 British Grand Prix | 2 | Y | Accident involving Jody Scheckter, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, George Follmer, Mike Hailwood, Carlos Pace, Jochen Mass, Jackie Oliver, Roger Williamson and Andrea de Adamich. | Jody Scheckter, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, George Follmer, Mike Hailwood, Carlos Pace, Jochen Mass, Jackie Oliver, Roger Williamson and Andrea de Adamich Graham McRae and David Purley. | ||
1974 Brazilian Grand Prix | 32 | N | Rain. | |||
1975 Spanish Grand Prix | 29 | N | Accident of Rolf Stommelen which killed five spectators. Half points were awarded. | |||
1975 British Grand Prix | 56 | N | Rain and accidents involving Wilson Fittipaldi, Jochen Mass, John Watson, Carlos Pace, Jody Scheckter, James Hunt and Mark Donohue. | |||
1975 Austrian Grand Prix | 29 | N | Rain. Half points were awarded. | |||
1976 British Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Accident at the start involving Clay Regazzoni, James Hunt, Jacques Laffite and Niki Lauda. | None, although Clay Regazzoni and Jacques Laffite illegally used their spare cars at the restart, and were subsequently disqualified. | ||
1976 German Grand Prix | 2 | Y | Accident involving Niki Lauda, Brett Lunger Harald Ertl. | Niki Lauda, Brett Lunger and Harald Ertl, Chris Amon, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Jacques Laffite | ||
1978 Austrian Grand Prix | 7 | Y | Rain. | Mario Andretti, Jody Scheckter, Nelson Piquet, Héctor Rebaque, Harald Ertl, Riccardo Patrese, Alan Jones and James Hunt. | ||
1978 Italian Grand Prix | 1 | S | Accident involving Ronnie Peterson, Riccardo Patrese, James Hunt, Vittorio Brambilla, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Patrick Depailler, Didier Pironi, Derek Daly, Clay Regazzoni and Brett Lunger. The race was shortened to 40 laps from the scheduled 52 due to the concerns over darkness. | Ronnie Peterson, Vittorio Brambilla, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Didier Pironi and Brett Lunger. | ||
1979 Argentine Grand Prix | 1 | Y | A huge crash involving Jody Scheckter, Arturo Merzario, Didier Pironi, Nelson Piquet, John Watson, Patrick Tambay and Mario Andretti. | Jody Scheckter, Arturo Merzario, Didier Pironi, Nelson Piquet and Patrick Tambay. | ||
2 | Y | Rain. | ||||
1980 Canadian Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Accident involving Jean-Pierre Jarier, Derek Daly, Emerson Fittipaldi, Keke Rosberg, Mario Andretti, Gilles Villeneuve and Jochen Mass. | Derek Daly and Mike Thackwell. | ||
1981 Belgian Grand Prix | 2 | R | Start accident that involved Riccardo Patrese and teammate Siegfried Stohr, injuring Patrese's mechanic. | Riccardo Patrese and Siegfried Stohr | ||
1981 Belgian Grand Prix | 54 | N | Rain. | |||
1981 French Grand Prix | 58 | R | Rain. The race was decided by combining the time from the first 58 laps with the time from the restarted 22. | |||
1982 Detroit Grand Prix | 6 | S | Accident involving Roberto Guerrero and Riccardo Patrese. | |||
1982 Canadian Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Didier Pironi stalled his car at the start, causing Riccardo Paletti to crash fatally into the back of Pironi's car. Geoff Lees, Raul Boesel and Eliseo Salazar were also involved in separate accidents at the start. | Riccardo Paletti, Geoff Lees and Jean-Pierre Jarier. | ||
1984 Monaco Grand Prix | 31 | N | Rain. Half points were awarded. | |||
1984 Detroit Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Accident at the start involving Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Michele Alboreto and Marc Surer | Marc Surer | ||
1984 British Grand Prix | 11 | S | Accident of Jonathan Palmer. The race was restarted for 60 laps, rather than the original 64. | |||
1984 Austrian Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Improper start procedure. | |||
1985 Austrian Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Accident at the start involving Teo Fabi, Elio de Angelis, Michele Alboreto and Gerhard Berger. | Piercarlo Ghinzani | ||
1986 British Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Nigel Mansell suffered a driveshaft failure at the start, resulting in an accident involving a number of cars which included Thierry Boutsen, Jacques Laffite, Christian Danner, Piercarlo Ghinzani, Allen Berg and Jonathan Palmer. | Jacques Laffite, Christian Danner, Piercarlo Ghinzani and Allen Berg. | ||
1987 Belgian Grand Prix | 2 | Y | Accident involving Jonathan Palmer and Philippe Streiff. | Jonathan Palmer | ||
1987 Austrian Grand Prix | 1 | Y | The first race start ended quickly after Martin Brundle crashed, then Jonathan Palmer, Philippe Streiff and Piercarlo Ghinzani collided. | |||
1987 Austrian Grand Prix | 1 | Y | The second race start ended quickly after Nigel Mansell crawled away with clutch problems and then Eddie Cheever and Riccardo Patrese collided and half the grid, including Stefan Johansson, Alex Caffi, Ivan Capelli, Pascal Fabre, Philippe Alliot, Martin Brundle and Christian Danner were involved in the ensuing pile-up. | Philippe Streiff | ||
1987 Portuguese Grand Prix | 2 | Y | A multi-car collision on the opening lap. Nelson Piquet and Michele Alboreto collided at the start. Derek Warwick, Satoru Nakajima, Martin Brundle, Christian Danner, Philippe Alliot, René Arnoux and Adrián Campos were all involved in the ensuing accident. | Christian Danner | ||
1987 Mexican Grand Prix | 30 | S | Accident of Derek Warwick. The race was decided by combining the time from the first 30 laps with the time from the restarted 33. | |||
1988 Portuguese Grand Prix | 1 | Y | The first start was aborted when Andrea de Cesaris stalled on the grid. | |||
1988 Portuguese Grand Prix | 1 | Y | The second start was aborted after Derek Warwick stalled his car and was hit by Andrea de Cesaris, with Luis Pérez-Sala and Satoru Nakajima also involved. | |||
1989 San Marino Grand Prix | 4 | S | Accident of Gerhard Berger. The race was shortened from 61 to 58 laps, and was decided by combining the time from the first 3 laps with the time from the restarted 55. | Gerhard Berger | ||
1989 Mexican Grand Prix | 2 | Y | Accident involving several cars. | |||
1989 French Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Accident involving Nigel Mansell, Maurício Gugelmin, Thierry Boutsen, René Arnoux and Jonathan Palmer | |||
1989 Australian Grand Prix | 2 | Y | Accident involving JJ Lehto. | Nicola Larini, Alain Prost | ||
1990 Monaco Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Accident involving Gerhard Berger and Alain Prost. | |||
1990 Belgian Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Multiple accidents on the first lap, involving Martin Donnelly, Nigel Mansell, Aguri Suzuki and several others. | Aguri Suzuki | ||
1990 Belgian Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Accident involving Paolo Barilla, resulting in a damaged guardrail. | Paolo Barilla | ||
1990 Italian Grand Prix | 2 | Y | Accident of Derek Warwick. | |||
1990 Portuguese Grand Prix | 61 | N | Accident involving Aguri Suzuki and Alex Caffi. | |||
1991 Australian Grand Prix | 14 | N | Rain. Half points were awarded. | |||
1992 French Grand Prix | 18 | S | Rain. The race was decided by combining the time from the first 18 laps with the time from the restarted 51. | |||
1994 San Marino Grand Prix | 7 | S | Fatal accident of Ayrton Senna. The restart procedure deleted the original lap six, and so the race was decided by combining the time of the first 5 laps with the time from the restarted 53. | Ayrton Senna, Érik Comas | ||
1994 Italian Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Accident involving several cars. | |||
1994 Japanese Grand Prix | 15 | S | Rain and an accident involving Martin Brundle, resulting in an injured marshal. The race was restarted with race leader Michael Schumacher behind the safety car and was decided by combining the time from the first 13 laps with the time of the restarted 37. | Martin Brundle | ||
1995 Argentine Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Several accidents involving Jean Alesi, Mika Salo, Luca Badoer, Olivier Panis, Pierluigi Martini, Johnny Herbert, Rubens Barrichello and Ukyo Katayama. | Luca Badoer | ||
1995 Monaco Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Accident involving Jean Alesi, Gerhard Berger and David Coulthard. | Domenico Schiattarella, Jos Verstappen | ||
1995 Italian Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Accident involving Max Papis, Jean-Christophe Boullion, Andrea Montermini, Pedro Diniz and Roberto Moreno. | Andrea Montermini and Roberto Moreno. | ||
1995 Portuguese Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Accident involving Ukyo Katayama, Luca Badoer, Pedro Diniz and Roberto Moreno. | Ukyo Katayama and Max Papis | ||
1996 Australian Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Accident involving Martin Brundle, David Coulthard and Johnny Herbert. | Johnny Herbert | ||
1997 Brazilian Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Rubens Barrichello stalled his car at the start, followed by several accidents involving Giancarlo Fisichella, Jacques Villeneuve, Jan Magnussen, Damon Hill, Johnny Herbert and Eddie Irvine. | Jan Magnussen | ||
1997 Canadian Grand Prix | 56 | N | Accident of Olivier Panis. | |||
1998 Canadian Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Accident involving Jean Alesi, Johnny Herbert, Jarno Trulli and Alexander Wurz. | |||
1998 French Grand Prix | 1 | S | Jos Verstappen stalled his car at the start. | |||
1998 Belgian Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Massive accident involving David Coulthard, Jos Verstappen, Eddie Irvine, Alexander Wurz, Rubens Barrichello, Johnny Herbert, Olivier Panis, Jarno Trulli, Mika Salo, Pedro Diniz, Toranosuke Takagi, Ricardo Rosset and Shinji Nakano. | Rubens Barrichello, Riccardo Rosset, Mika Salo and Olivier Panis. | ||
1999 British Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Jacques Villeneuve and Alessandro Zanardi stalled their cars at the start. Michael Schumacher crashed after the red flag was shown. | Michael Schumacher | ||
2000 Monaco Grand Prix | 1 | Y | Initially shown due to a technical fault in the FIA computer. Pedro de la Rosa and Jenson Button collided after the red flag was shown. | Pedro de la Rosa | ||
2001 German Grand Prix | 2 | Y | Accident involving Luciano Burti and Michael Schumacher. | |||
2001 Belgian Grand Prix | 5 | S | Accident involving Luciano Burti and Eddie Irvine, resulting in a damaged tyre wall. | Luciano Burti, Eddie Irvine, Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso | ||
2003 Brazilian Grand Prix | 56 | N | Accidents of Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso. | |||
2007 European Grand Prix | 5 | R | Torrential rain and accidents involving Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, Adrian Sutil, Lewis Hamilton, Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi. | Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, Adrian Sutil, Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi. | ||
2009 Malaysian Grand Prix | 33 | N | Torrential rain and accidents of Sébastien Buemi, Sebastian Vettel and Giancarlo Fisichella. Half points were awarded. | |||
2010 Korean Grand Prix | 3 | R | Rain. | |||
2011 Monaco Grand Prix | 72 | R | Accident involving Adrian Sutil, Lewis Hamilton, Jaime Alguersuari and Vitaly Petrov. | Jaime Alguersuari and Vitaly Petrov | ||
2011 Canadian Grand Prix | 25 | R | Rain. | |||
2012 Malaysian Grand Prix | 9 | R | Rain. | |||
2013 Monaco Grand Prix | 46 | R | Accident involving Pastor Maldonado and Max Chilton, resulting in a damaged barrier blocking the track. | Pastor Maldonado | ||
2014 British Grand Prix | 1 | R | Accident involving Kimi Räikkönen, Felipe Massa and Kamui Kobayashi, resulting in a damaged guardrail. | Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa | ||
2014 Japanese Grand Prix | 2 | R | Torrential rain as a consequence of Typhoon Phanfone. | |||
2014 Japanese Grand Prix | 46 | N | Fatal accident of Jules Bianchi. | |||
2016 Australian Grand Prix | 18 | R | Accident involving Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutiérrez. | Fernando Alonso, Esteban Gutiérrez and Rio Haryanto | ||
2016 Belgian Grand Prix | 9 | R | Accident of Kevin Magnussen, resulting in a damaged barrier. | Kevin Magnussen | ||
2016 Brazilian Grand Prix | 21 | R | Rain and accident of Kimi Räikkönen. | Jolyon Palmer, Kimi Räikkönen | ||
2016 Brazilian Grand Prix | 28 | R | Rain. | |||
2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix | 22 | R | Daniel Ricciardo | Debris on the track following multiple accidents. |