{"id":933806,"date":"2022-03-31T21:50:55","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T20:50:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/?p=933806"},"modified":"2022-03-31T21:56:50","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T20:56:50","slug":"when-f1s-chequered-flag-wavers-get-it-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/articles\/single-seaters\/f1\/when-f1s-chequered-flag-wavers-get-it-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"When F1’s chequered flag wavers get it wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"
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He’s Brazil’s all-time leading goalscorer, a three-time World Cup winner and widely acclaimed as the greatest footballer of all time. But for many F1 fans, the mention of Pele immediately conjures an image of his hapless figure at the 2002 Brazilian Grand Prix, clutching the chequered flag with his back turned as Michael Schumacher crosses the line to win.<\/p>\n

But Pele shouldn’t feel too embarrassed at the blunder, which took place 20 years ago. He’s not the only person to get the deceptively tricky, high-profile role all wrong. We look back at F1’s chequered flag errors.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n \"Fangio\n
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Juan Manuel Fangio waves the chequered flag as Ronnie Peterson crosses the line in Buenos Aires \u2014 Lotus team-mate Mario Andretti was the winner<\/p>\n

\n Getty Images\n <\/p>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

1978 – Argentinian Grand Prix<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There wasn\u2019t much that anybody could have done to hamper Mario Andretti in Buenos Aires, 1978. Surging away from pole position in the Lotus 78, en route to victory, and ultimately that year\u2019s title, he was unchallenged.<\/p>\n

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From the archive<\/h2>\n \t\t\n\t\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArchive<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1978 Argentine Grand Prix race report\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t
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Andretti and Lotus all the way Buenos Aires, January 15th With the Grand Prix season stretching from January to October, it is not unusual for the first race of the…<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 1978\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIssue<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
By\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAlan Henry<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n<\/article>\n <\/div>\n
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So the fact that the race was shortened by a lap when the chequered flag was waved early, is simply a note in the history books, albeit an embarrassing mishap \u2014 more so because of the flag bearer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were some red faces amongst the race administration over this, for the man who was waving the flag was none other than Juan-Manuel Fangio!\u201d wrote Alan Henry in the Motor Sport<\/em> report.<\/p>\n

Fangio, who was the honorary chairman of the race, mistook another car for Andretti\u2019s \u2014 likely to have been Ronnie Peterson in the sister black and gold JPS Lotus, but Jody Scheckter\u2019s similarly black Wolf could also have confused.<\/p>\n

The drivers raced on, as the pitboards showed there was one lap still to go, but the results were calculated after 52 laps, rather than the scheduled 53.<\/p>\n

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\n \"Alain\n
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Prost moved ahead of Senna when the Brazilian’s Renault engine failed<\/p>\n

\n DPPI\n <\/p>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

1985 British Grand Prix<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For the sake of F1, it was just as well that the Renault engine in Ayrton Senna\u2019s Lotus failed, with five laps remaining at Silverstone, or the chequered flag error in 1985 could have been much more controversial.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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From the archive<\/h2>\n \t\t\n\t\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1985 British Grand Prix race report – A bit farcical\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t
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A bit farcical Silverstone, July 21st\u00a0 The whole affair started off badly when the Friday morning practice session was delayed by the most appalling weather. It wasn’t that nobody wanted…<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 1985\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIssue<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
By\n\t\t\t\t\t\tadmin<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n<\/article>\n <\/div>\n
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The Brazilian catapulted into the lead from fourth on the grid and was soon under pressure from Alain Prost\u2019s McLaren, which unfolded into a race-long duel; Senna always doing just enough to keep the Frenchman behind until his engine cut out on lap 60 and retired.<\/p>\n

So when an official mistakenly ordered the chequered flag to be flown a lap early, it had no effect on the winner; Prost was a lap ahead of second-placed Michele Alboreto. Once again, the drivers raced to their pitboards and completed the full distance \u2014 with the exception of Jacques Laffite and Derek Warwick who ran out of fuel on the final lap; the former has the flag error to thank for his podium place.<\/p>\n

At a time when technology was sweeping into the sport, Denis Jenkinson was unsparing in his Motor Sport<\/em> write-up.<\/p>\n

“The organisers put it down to ‘human error’ which really is a nice ‘circus’ touch in this electronic, micro-chip, computer age,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThrough all this ‘high-tech’ and electronic time-keeping to 1000th of a second, a man with a flag decides when the race has finished, and he makes \u2018a human error\u2019. It does put it all into perspective, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n \"Pele\n
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Pele missed the winner but unfurled the flag in time for third-placed David Coulthard<\/p>\n

\n Alamy\n <\/p>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

2002 Brazilian Grand Prix<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The camera operator had set up the perfect shot for the final moment of the Brazilian Grand Prix: framing the start-finish line and the gantry above where football legend Pele was stood with the chequered flag.<\/p>\n

As Michael Schumacher\u2019s car climbed through the final corners at Interlagos, the editor switched to the shot, right on cue, only to capture the three-time World Cup winner with his back turned to the track, talking to a figure behind him.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until third-placed David Coulthard crossed the line, almost a minute behind, that Pele unfurled the flag.<\/p>\n

“I was going like this [punching the air with his fist] and then, I thought, where’s the chequered flag?” said Schumacher, who was assured that the race had ended by the routine practice of marshals waving their multicoloured array of flags at the side of the track.<\/p>\n

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\n \"Chequered\n
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The flag waved a lap too early for Hamilton<\/p>\n

\n Goh Chai Hin\/AFP via Getty Images\n <\/p>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

2014 Chinese Grand Prix<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It was another race official error that brought an early end to the 2014 Chinese Grand Prix although, as ever, the drivers raced on after the chequered flag was waved two laps early.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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