Black and orange flag
The black flag with an orange disc orders a driver into the pits because their car has mechanical damage that makes it unsafe.
Also called meatball flag
Known universally as the meatball flag for the orange circle at its centre. It is shown with the car number and is not a penalty — it is a safety instruction, most often for a loose bodywork part, a damaged wing endplate or a leaking fluid.
The driver must pit at the end of the current lap and cannot rejoin until the problem is fixed, which in practice usually costs far more time than the damage itself would have.
Related terms