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Vote: Autosport Best of the Month for June 2026

General
Vote: Autosport Best of the Month for June 2026

Why similar Williams and Aston Martin failures are oddly reassuring

Feature
Formula 1
Austrian GP
Why similar Williams and Aston Martin failures are oddly reassuring

McLaren still to investigate why it's losing to Mercedes on the straights, despite same PU

Formula 1
Austrian GP
McLaren still to investigate why it's losing to Mercedes on the straights, despite same PU

Explained: The factors behind WRC’s big 2027 transition and the hurdles it still faces

Feature
WRC
Rally Greece
Explained: The factors behind WRC’s big 2027 transition and the hurdles it still faces

Marquez admits he "didn't want to walk into the paddock" because he "associated it with pain"

MotoGP
Dutch GP
Marquez admits he "didn't want to walk into the paddock" because he "associated it with pain"

Top five roles on Motorsport Jobs this week

General
Top five roles on Motorsport Jobs this week

Autosport Retro video: Remembering the 1987 British GP

Formula 1
British GP
Autosport Retro video: Remembering the 1987 British GP

Williams plans “almost entirely new car” by Azerbaijan GP

Formula 1
Austrian GP
Williams plans “almost entirely new car” by Azerbaijan GP

Kimi Raikkonen pushes for F1 to change its blue flag rules

Kimi Raikkonen has called for a change to Formula 1's blue flag regulations after he was caught behind traffic in the Monaco Grand Prix while fighting for the win

Raikkonen felt he lost too much time behind backmarkers around the pitstops in Monaco, which cost him time relative to team-mate and eventual race winner Sebastian Vettel.

The subject came up in Friday's drivers' briefing in Montreal, where Raikkonen raised it with F1 race director Charlie Whiting.

Under the International Sporting Code drivers have "to allow the faster driver past at the first available opportunity" after the FIA blue lights in their cockpits are illuminated.

Drivers first get a "pre-warning' when they are three seconds ahead of a car almost a lap ahead, which the FIA says "should be used by the team of the slower car to warn their driver he is soon going to be lapped and that allowing the faster car through should be considered a priority."

Last year the FIA changed the gap that automatically triggers the signals that a driver has to move over for the leading cars, reducing it from 1.5s to 1.0s.

While the reduction in time gap worked well in 2016, some drivers have reported that it has become more problematic this season because of the difficulties inherent in following other cars with the current aero package.

Following Raikkonen raising the issue in Canada, Whiting told the drivers that the gap won't be changed, reportedly pointing out that drivers don't seem to have any trouble when they are racing the car ahead.

Also discussed in the briefing was the question of drivers going very slowly at the approach to the final corner in Montreal as they try to create a gap in front before starting their flying lap - something Lewis Hamilton was keen to discuss with Whiting on Friday.

Carlos Sainz Jr received a reprimand after slowing and not realising that Kevin Magnussen, who was behind, was on a flying lap.

One suggestion was that drivers create their gap earlier, and don't go slowly beyond the DRS line, which is around a third of the way along the preceding straight.

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