The F1 games have long had the safety car as a realistic feature, and the next logical feature that fans have been asking for is red flags, where the race can be suspended entirely after heavy crashes, terrible weather, etc. Is this feature on the latest F1 23 game? Can you get red flags on F1 23, and if so, do they actually work properly?

Whilst the answer was a bit more mixed on the initial release of F1 23, it’s now a clear yes to all those questions:

Red flags are available on the F1 23 game, and do now work properly after being patched, following the same rules as real life F1. However, the setting is optional and can also be disabled if desired.

And that’s really it. Yes, you can get red flags in races on F1 23 if you have them turned on, and they can add an interesting strategic element to races. Let’s look at how they work in more detail.

How Red Flags Rules Work

A red flag is issued if some or all of the following criteria are met:

• There is damage to multiple cars (especially a pile-up) or the circuit barriers or debris on the track that a standard safety car will not be adequate to help fix and get cleared away.
• There is imminent danger and risk of injury to more drivers/fans as the result of an existing collision/crash.
• Track conditions that are considered too dangerous, mostly due to persistent bad weather that shows no sign of abating.

In other words, under a red flag the race is fully suspended on that lap, and all cars go back to the pits until a restart is ordered (if at all).

Once a red flag, is issued during a race, here’s the general protocol:

• All cars that can do so, must return to the pits and park in the outer lane in the pit lane, in race order.
• The race time is paused under a red flag, though the 2 hour total time limit for a race still holds if you do 100% races.
• Some work can be done on the car to repair damage to the wing and rest of the car (though the front wing itself cannot be changed), and tyres can also be changed.
• The race will be restarted when stewards deem appropriate, from a standing start, in the same order the cars were in when the red flag was issued.
• If you have it turned on, the safety car will lead the cars out for one formation lap, and then the race will start again as per a normal start.

If a uncompleted race does not ever re-start after a red flag, here are the rules for the results and issuance of points depending on the length of the race completed:

• The final race finishing order for a race ending red flag is NOT the order the cars are in on the lap the red flag was thrown.
• Rather, if a red flagged race doesn’t restart, the race results go back 2 laps from the lap the lead car was on when the red flag was issued, and whatever order the cars were in at the end of of that lap then is deemed the race result.
• For example, if the lead car is on lap 44 when the red flag is thrown, the order that the cars passed the finish line at the end of lap 42 are deemed the final finishing positions.
• If a race is red flagged and not resumed before 75% of the laps have been completed, only half points will be awarded for each points finishing position.
• If a red flag is issued before 2 laps have been completed, and the race does not restart, no points will be awarded.
• Lapped cars can un-lap themselves during the safety car out-lap following a red flag.

See this video for a great technical breakdown of F1 red flag rules, and here for the FIA’s own regulations document (section 50 covers red flag rules).

Again, this is now mirrored on the F1 23 game as in real life when it’s possible to do so (some of the minutiae of the rules can’t be applied to a video game), though it was bugged on game release and needed patching (more on this below).

Potential Strategy Benefits Of A Red Flag

If a red flag comes out at the right time for you on F1 23, you can benefit from it:

• Since you are allowed to change tyres during a red flag, you effectively get a free pit stop, and can put tyres on that will get you to the end of the race.
• As with a full safety car, any time gaps between cars is neutralised and you restart the race fresh from a standing start, with the cars all bunched up together again (the same as the actual original race start).
• If you’re a really long way behind and have been lapped, you can un-lap yourself after a red flag, so you’re back in the race.

Of course, you can also lose out from these rules depending on when the red flag is thrown. If you’ve already pitted when other cars haven’t, and then a red flag is issued, you’ll lose track position as the other cars get a free pit stop when you didn’t.

But red flags can introduce a strategic and race resetting element into races which some players do like. As with a full safety car, they can be a lifesaver if you’re a long way back and had no chance of catching up to the rest of the field.

Can You Turn Red Flags Off?

Red flags were a brand new feature on the F1 23 game, so lots of players do want to try it out for the novelty factor and also to add some more strategic elements to races.

However, red flag settings are optional on F1 23 and you can turn them off from the Rules & Flags tab on your Settings menu.

Honestly, that’s what I do, as I’m not that bothered about red flags and they were bugged on game launch anyway. I like having the safety car on, but I can take or leave red flags. But you can enable or disable them depending on your own preference.

Have Red Flags Been Fixed?

The red flag feature did work on game launch in the sense that they could appear, but were so badly bugged on the initial version of F1 23 that they were basically unusable and had to be turned off.

There were all sorts of problems with the red flags affecting the players finishing position, putting them 20-30 seconds further back than they should have been, and other glitches that basically made red flags unworkable on game launch.

Red flag initially bugged on F1 23 (now fixed)

Thankfully, all the bugs now seem to be fixed in the 1.05 patch, and the red flags seem to work properly on F1 23.

But as Alex Gillon pointed out in this video, for the brand-new-for-this-game (and heavily promoted) red flags feature to be so badly bugged and have so many issues at game launch was not great and a sign that EA/Codemasters need to improve their QA/testing procedure. These problems could and should have been caught with any kind of rigorous testing before game launch.