F1 News: Jeremy Clarkson Reveals Major Chequered Flag Mistake - "Oh S**t It Was A Red Bull"

The former Top Gear presenter made a catastrophic error in Bahrain.

Presenter of Amazon's The Grand Tour, Jeremy Clarkson, opened up about a huge chequered flag mistake he committed during the Bahrain Grand Prix by accidentally branding Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll as the winner instead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen. 

Key Takeaways:

• Clarkson mistakenly waved the chequered flag for Lance Stroll instead of Max Verstappen at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
• Verstappen and Perez secured Red Bull's first 1-2 finish of the 2024 season, maintaining their dominance.
• Clarkson humorously recounted the incident in his column for The Sun, admitting to attending the race venue with some alcohol influence.

Red Bull Press Image

The 2024 season began earlier this month, with many expecting rival teams to halt Red Bull's winning streak from 2023. However, Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez dashed those hopes by leading Red Bull to the season's first 1-2 finish in the opening race, maintaining their dominance.

Former Top Gear presenter Clarkson was present at the Bahrain International Circuit with a 'slight' influence of alcohol. Renowned for his humorous antics and daring presentation approach, he recounted an incident where he was requested to wave the chequered flag, which didn't quite go according to plan. Writing in typical Clarkson style in his column for The Sun, he asked "what could possibly go wrong?" 

The 63-year-old presenter explained the physical ordeal he endured to walk up to the "flag waving box" from the viewing platform, which took a time equivalent to Formula 1 cars doing 12 laps. The walk caused him to run out of breath, having reached the spot when Verstappen was on his last lap of the race. Describing his flag-waving adventure, he wrote:

“With a dozen laps to go, I set off from my viewing platform at one end of the pit straight to the little flag-waving box at the other.

“No big deal. Plenty of time. Which would have been true if I’d been able to walk in a straight line.

“Mercifully, I arrived in the pit lane, opposite the little flag box, as Max Verstappen began his final lap.

“I was a little out of breath but even I could cross a road in the time it takes a Formula 1 car to do a whole lap."

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Suggesting that the nighttime race had hindered his visibility, he waived the flag in a hurry with the expectation that Verstappen was arriving. But, he wasn't. He added:

“Even though he could have done that and still won, we decided not to chance it, hurried across the pit lane, plunged into the little box, took control of the flag. And waited for Max to appear round the last corner. Easy.

"But it was dark and in the time it takes to think, 'Is that a Red Bull?' the car was past me and I’m thinking: 'Oh s**t. It was a Red Bull.'

“So I was waving the flag as frantically as I could when I realised that it wasn’t a Red Bull.

“I’m told that officially, Max Verstappen won the race but the car that took the chequered flag?

“Well, I’ve checked the footage and I think it might have been Lance Stroll.”

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