Why F1 drivers will be issued with a black and orange flag during grands prix

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What is a black and orange flag in F1? Why would drivers be issued with it and what must they do when it is shown to them?

Yuki Tsunoda’s 2022 Azerbaijan GP was going well for AlphaTauri until the Japanese driver was slapped with a black and orange flag while running in the points.

Tsunoda was forced to pit immediately, dropping him out of the points positions – but why was he forced to pit?

What does the black and orange flag mean in F1 – and why do drivers have to pit when it is shown?

Black and orange flag in F1

It is rare for the black and orange flag to be shown to F1 drivers in the modern era – especially with all the data and telemetry cars now have.

Whenever a car develops a technical problem, if the driver attempts to carry on, they can be commanded to stop by the FIA with the black and orange flag.

It is an instruction to come into the pits and fix whatever the problem is.

In the case of Tsunoda, he was shown the flag – known as the meatball flag – because of the orange circle on a black background because his DRS snapped in half.

The left side of the system opened but the right remained firmly shut.

Tsunoda pitted while the team tapped the DRS shut and continued on his way.

Hamilton also got one

Back in the mad 2017 Azerbaijan GP, Lewis Hamilton was shown a black and orange flag.

That day, the headrest of his Mercedes came loose after the red flag restart, forcing him into an extra stop as he could not pull it back down into place.

It dropped him from the lead to P5, behind title rival Sebastian Vettel.