F1: Ferrari's Vettel calls for return of traditional chequered flags

A system glitch resulted in the final part of the Japanese Grand Prix 2019 on Sunday being called a lap earlier than the scheduled 53 laps, resulting in confusion for teams and drivers alike. Sebastian Vettel, the Ferrari driver, who came second behind Mercedes' Valterri Bottas, believes F1 should go back to using a traditional chequered flag.

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What happened at the race?

A traditional chequered flag is still waved at the end of races, but a chequered flag light panel has been used to officially signal the end of the race since the beginning of this season. This signal was incorrectly displaced to leader Valtteri Bottas on the penultimate lap of yesterday’s race, which meant the result had to be taken based on 52 laps instead of the scheduled 53. The FIA has already launched an investigation to check what went wrong with the electronic sign. The electronic flag system was introduced after a similar confusion at last year’s Canadian Grand Prix, where the chequered flag was waved too soon by model Winnie Harlow.

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Vettel pointed out that teams give their drivers a countdown to the end of the race to prevent any confusion about how many laps are remaining. But here he felt it was more about the timing that set the chequered flag and not the actual chequered flag on the track.

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The former German world champion also drifted ahead before the starting lights went out at the F1 final race. Somehow, he managed to stop just in time to avoid a penalty for the same. It derailed his momentum as he was left to chase eventual winner Bottas right from the start. On this incident, Vettel commented he got a bit eager, which ticked him off before time and believing somebody at the race was as eager as him, which caused the flag incident. The Ferrari racer finished 13.343s behind Bottas, which handed Mercedes the Constructor's Championship for the sixth consecutive season. Ferrari rider Charles Leclerc finished at sixth but dropped to seventh after he received a post-race penalty.

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