fix(live): keep red-flagged sessions active

frontend/src/test/LiveTimingPage.test.tsx

@@ -153,6 +153,29 @@ describe('LiveTimingPage archive mode', () => {
     expect(screen.queryByRole('button', { name: /view last session/i })).not.toBeInTheDocument()
   })
 
+  it('renders the live session for a red-flag paused snapshot instead of the inactive empty state', async () => {
+    renderPage({
+      is_live: true,
+      data: {
+        ...archivedSnapshot,
+        SessionStatus: 'Inactive',
+        TrackStatus: '2',
+        Clock: '00:03:27',
+        Session: {
+          MeetingName: 'Belgian Grand Prix',
+          CircuitName: 'Spa-Francorchamps',
+          SessionType: 'Practice',
+          SessionName: 'Practice 2',
+          Path: '',
+        },
+      },
+    })
+
+    expect(await screen.findByText('Timing Tower')).toBeInTheDocument()
+    expect(screen.queryByTestId('live-empty')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+    expect(screen.queryByTestId('live-archive-strip')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+  })
+
   it('temporarily omits the track map while live GPS is unavailable', async () => {
     renderPage({
       is_live: true,

internal/live/parser_test.go

@@ -307,6 +307,28 @@ func TestSessionStatusIsActive(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestSessionStatusIsTerminal(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		status string
+		want   bool
+	}{
+		{"Finished", true},
+		{"Finalised", true},
+		{"Finalized", true},
+		{"Ends", true},
+		{"Aborted", true},
+		{"Started", false},
+		{"Resumed", false},
+		{"Inactive", false},
+		{"", false},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		if got := live.SessionStatusIsTerminal(tt.status); got != tt.want {
+			t.Errorf("SessionStatusIsTerminal(%q) = %v, want %v", tt.status, got, tt.want)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestProcessTopicRaceControlMessages(t *testing.T) {
 	state := live.NewState()
 	data := json.RawMessage(`{

internal/live/types.go

@@ -186,6 +186,19 @@ func SessionStatusIsActive(status string) bool {
 	}
 }
 
+// SessionStatusIsTerminal reports whether a raw F1 live timing SessionStatus
+// value represents a session that has ended and will not resume. A temporarily
+// inactive session (e.g. a red-flag pause reported as "Inactive") is neither
+// active nor terminal.
+func SessionStatusIsTerminal(status string) bool {
+	switch normalizeSessionStatus(status) {
+	case "finished", "finalised", "finalized", "ends", "aborted":
+		return true
+	default:
+		return false
+	}
+}
+
 func normalizeSessionStatus(status string) string {
 	out := make([]rune, 0, len(status))
 	for _, r := range status {

internal/web/live.go

@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ func (h *SSEHub) applySnapshot(data live.LiveStreamData, now time.Time) liveStat
 	h.mu.Lock()
 	defer h.mu.Unlock()
 
-	if live.SessionStatusIsActive(data.SessionStatus) {
+	if snapshotIsLive(data) {
 		h.isLive = true
 		h.activeSnapshot = &data
 		if data.PositionUpdated && len(data.Positions) > 0 {
@@ -208,6 +208,40 @@ func (h *SSEHub) stateLocked() liveStatePayload {
 	return payload
 }
 
+// snapshotIsLive reports whether the current live-timing snapshot represents an
+// ongoing session that should be surfaced as live.
+//
+// An actively running session (Started/Resumed) is always live. A non-terminal
+// but temporarily inactive session — e.g. a red-flag pause where SessionStatus
+// drops to "Inactive" while the session is still in progress — is also live when
+// the snapshot itself carries live evidence: a session clock with time remaining
+// plus session metadata. This keeps the paused track state visible instead of
+// collapsing to the inactive empty state.
+//
+// Terminal sessions (Finished/Finalised/Ends/Aborted) are never live. A generic
+// inactive/no-session stale snapshot is not live either: the predicate keys off
+// the current snapshot's clock and session, so old metadata alone is not enough.
+func snapshotIsLive(data live.LiveStreamData) bool {
+	if live.SessionStatusIsActive(data.SessionStatus) {
+		return true
+	}
+	if live.SessionStatusIsTerminal(data.SessionStatus) {
+		return false
+	}
+	return clockHasTimeRemaining(data.Clock) && data.Session.SessionName != ""
+}
+
+// clockHasTimeRemaining reports whether an "HH:MM:SS" session clock has any time
+// left. Empty or all-zero clocks (a spent or absent session) return false.
+func clockHasTimeRemaining(clock string) bool {
+	for _, r := range clock {
+		if r >= '1' && r <= '9' {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 func hasLiveSnapshotData(data live.LiveStreamData) bool {
 	return len(data.Drivers) > 0 ||
 		len(data.DriverInfo) > 0 ||

internal/web/live_archive_test.go

@@ -51,6 +51,101 @@ func TestSSEHubArchivesTerminalSessionSnapshot(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestSnapshotIsLive(t *testing.T) {
+	redFlag := live.LiveStreamData{
+		SessionStatus: "Inactive",
+		TrackStatus:   "2",
+		Clock:         "00:03:27",
+		Session:       live.LiveSessionMeta{MeetingName: "Belgian Grand Prix", SessionName: "Practice 2", SessionType: "Practice"},
+	}
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		data live.LiveStreamData
+		want bool
+	}{
+		{"started", live.LiveStreamData{SessionStatus: "Started"}, true},
+		{"resumed", live.LiveStreamData{SessionStatus: "Resumed"}, true},
+		{"red flag inactive with clock and session", redFlag, true},
+		{"terminal finished with clock", func() live.LiveStreamData {
+			d := redFlag
+			d.SessionStatus = "Finished"
+			return d
+		}(), false},
+		{"inactive spent clock", func() live.LiveStreamData {
+			d := redFlag
+			d.Clock = "00:00:00"
+			return d
+		}(), false},
+		{"inactive no clock", func() live.LiveStreamData {
+			d := redFlag
+			d.Clock = ""
+			return d
+		}(), false},
+		{"inactive no session metadata", func() live.LiveStreamData {
+			d := redFlag
+			d.Session = live.LiveSessionMeta{}
+			return d
+		}(), false},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		if got := snapshotIsLive(tt.data); got != tt.want {
+			t.Errorf("%s: snapshotIsLive = %v, want %v", tt.name, got, tt.want)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSSEHubKeepsRedFlagSessionLive(t *testing.T) {
+	hub := newSSEHub()
+	now := time.Date(2026, 7, 26, 14, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+
+	redFlag := live.LiveStreamData{
+		SessionStatus:   "Inactive",
+		TrackStatus:     "2",
+		Clock:           "00:03:27",
+		Session:         live.LiveSessionMeta{MeetingName: "Belgian Grand Prix", SessionName: "Practice 2", SessionType: "Practice"},
+		SnapshotUpdated: true,
+	}
+	state := hub.applySnapshot(redFlag, now)
+
+	if !state.IsLive {
+		t.Fatal("red-flag paused session should report is_live=true")
+	}
+	if state.Data == nil {
+		t.Fatal("red-flag paused session must still send the active snapshot")
+	}
+	if state.Data.TrackStatus != "2" {
+		t.Fatalf("track status = %q, want the paused state \"2\"", state.Data.TrackStatus)
+	}
+	if state.LastSnapshot != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("red-flag session should not be archived: %+v", state.LastSnapshot)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSSEHubStaleInactiveSnapshotNotLive(t *testing.T) {
+	hub := newSSEHub()
+	now := time.Date(2026, 7, 26, 14, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+
+	// Inactive snapshot with session metadata but no remaining clock: this is a
+	// stale/no-live-evidence snapshot and must not be surfaced as live.
+	stale := live.LiveStreamData{
+		SessionStatus:   "Inactive",
+		Clock:           "00:00:00",
+		Session:         live.LiveSessionMeta{MeetingName: "Belgian Grand Prix", SessionName: "Practice 2"},
+		SnapshotUpdated: true,
+	}
+	state := hub.applySnapshot(stale, now)
+
+	if state.IsLive {
+		t.Fatal("stale inactive snapshot should report is_live=false")
+	}
+	if state.Data != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("stale inactive snapshot leaked into active data: %+v", state.Data)
+	}
+	if state.LastSnapshot == nil {
+		t.Fatal("stale inactive snapshot with metadata should be archived")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestHandleLiveStateKeepsArchiveOutOfActiveData(t *testing.T) {
 	hub := newSSEHub()
 	now := time.Date(2026, 7, 4, 14, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)