‘Which Idiot threw a flare on track?’ Fans left in utter disbelief after the Dutch GP Qualifying session is red-flagged for the strangest of reasons

‘Which Idiot threw a flare on track?’ Fans left in utter disbelief after the Dutch GP Qualifying session is red-flagged for the strangest of reasons

Someone has thrown a flare onto the track in the Dutch GP qualifying session.

The first qualifying session this weekend at the Dutch GP has gone rather as expected, but there have been a few surprises. Daniel Ricciardo, who will leave McLaren at the end of the season, has gone out in Q1, but his teammate, Lando Norris was able to go fifth fastest.

Max Verstappen is completely in his own league, once again. But Mercedes are competitive with Ferrari on qualifying for perhaps the first time this season, and if their trend of being better in the races continues, it’s a worrying sign for the Italian team. Stranger things have happened, however.

Right at the beginning of Q2, someone in the crowd threw a flare onto the track. It also ruined Alex Albon’s run, even if that was on used tyres. It meant he would not be able to use the tyres as he had originally planned. And this red-flagged the session for a few minutes so the flare could be removed…and the pigeons could be chased away. Fans were certainly not happy with this.

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‘The flare ban has worked a treat’

Dutch GP
A sign board telling that the flares are banned.

This is especially harrowing, as the flares were supposed to be banned, but someone went out of their way to not only smuggle one in, but also throw it into the track. This is incredibly dangerous, and it’s a good thing that Alex Albon was not on new tyres or on a fast run, because that may just have ended on tyres.

As it is, a session being red-flagged due to a spectator’s stupidity certainly did not bring smiles to fans’ faces, and everyone made their displeasure known.

Even journalist Chris Medland couldn’t refrain:

However, there is some good news at the very least. Apparently, security has been able to remove the person who threw the flare onto the track, as said by David Croft.
Last year’s Dutch Grand Prix had been rather dull, with Max Verstappen winning it fairly comfortably from pole. Overtaking should be easier this year, and perhaps we might finally see a tussle from the lead. But if Verstappen’s pace persists, that certainly would not be the case at all.

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