Battery drained: Blue flags for Haas “the absolute killer”

– How problematic lapping can be for the leader was demonstrated by Oscar Piastri over the weekend in Budapest when he clashed with Carlos Sainz. Usually, however, lapping is mainly a problem for the backmarkers – and not only in the event of a blue flag system failure like at the Hungaroring.

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Because by letting others pass, a driver loses a lot of time and may have to give up the fight with an opponent for the time being. Under the new regulations, however, completely different difficulties have emerged, which cost even more valuable time, as shown by the example of Haas.

“For us, blue flags are an absolute killer,” says Esteban Ocon. The problem: “If we reduce the throttle to 60 to 70 percent on any straight, you can watch the battery just drop off a cliff. Then we are at zero.”

Because the car draws all the electric power while the engine does not push because the driver lifts off the throttle. “If you do that on the wrong straight, it is absolutely deadly,” says the Frenchman. “You lose two seconds until the car recharges again on the next lap.”

Photo gallery: Budapest: Driver ratings by Marc Surer and the editorial team

However, this is not a peculiarity of the car, but a consequence of the regulations, as his teammate Oliver Bearman says: “We understand why it happens,” he emphasizes.

Because: “When you lift off the throttle and then go full throttle again, the renewed power delivery is normal. But it is quite rare to lift off the throttle on the straight and then get back on it,” says the Brit, “unless you are being lapped, which happens quite often to us.”

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The driver can do nothing about it. The only option would be to let the leaders pass at a more suitable place. According to Ocon, that would be at the end of a straight. “But if the other is right behind you, you block him a little,” he says. Besides, you can’t always plan where a faster car will catch you.

You might be able to delay the timing a bit. “But is that good enough for the FIA?” he asks. “You never know, and it can already be on the edge.”

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For the front of the field, it would always be most comfortable if the other simply made room on the straight. “But that is the point where the engine delivers power, and that costs us dearly,” says Ocon. “So there is no flexibility at all. That is the problem.”

And contrary to what many think, it is not always just about the golden pineapple for those being lapped. Recently in Hungary, even the eighth place was a lap down. “Even if we are sometimes lapped, we are still fighting for points,” says Bearman. “So anything that helps your lap time is an advantage.”

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