Race Control waited more than 30 seconds before throwing a red flag to neutralize the session. Charles Leclerc And Liam Lawson They improve their lap times.

Max Verstappen He was in the mid sector and improving when the red flag came out and with just over a minute left on the clock this meant the session would not be restarted.

This left both Verstappen and Perez out of the top 10, and the Dutch pilot is preparing to start the Sao Paulo GP from 17th place due to a five-place grid penalty. Horner He was confused by Race Control’s decision when speaking to Sky Sports after the session.

Christian Horner questions Race Control’s red flag delay following Lance Stroll’s crash in Sao Paulo GP qualifying

Verstappen calls decision to postpone red flag after session “stupid”Horner was left questioning why it had taken so long, considering other incidents had required an immediate red flag.

“I don’t understand why it took so long for the red flag to come out. There was a huge accident at Turn 3, which is obviously one of the most dangerous corners on the track, it took 40 seconds for the red flag to go out and this is the second day in a row that we have had very late calls, regardless of whether there was a VSC or not. Yesterday or red flag today “All the other red flags were momentary,” Horner said.

“The only thing you need to do is focus on safety, it’s not about letting the cars finish laps. Once you have an accident like that, it should immediately be a red flag.

“You’ve got a driver leaning against the wall in one of the most dangerous corners on the track, cars are closing in, you can’t just say ‘Oh, we’ll wait for the others to finish their laps’ – that’s not how you work. Lance Stroll wasn’t trying to restart the car, it was awful, he was in the middle of the track, that was a red flag.”

Why was Max Verstappen unlucky with the Race Control decision?

A multitude of factors go into play when Race Control decides to throw a red flag, and it has been a long-standing policy to reveal these on the fly during the qualifying session to prevent drivers from improving their lap times.

In this case, the stewards issued a double-wave yellow card to Stroll’s stricken car, which enabled Race Control to assess the situation. The Aston Martin driver initially attempted to save his car without realizing the extent of the damage, causing a slight delay until the red flag came out.

Red Bull were also caught sending their cars late in the session, with Perez venting his frustrations to his engineer as he thought staying in the pits would cost them dearly.

Elsewhere, Verstappen’s first attempt was jeopardized when he was passed by Esteban Ocon, who eventually improved and entered the third quarter.

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