Max Verstappen slammed the delay in bringing out the red flag for Lance Stroll’s crash following his own shock Q2 exit at the F1 Brazilian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver’s world championship hopes suffered a major blow on Sunday morning after he was eliminated in Q2 at Interlagos. It means he will start 17th.
He was already heading into the Sao Paulo weekend knowing he had a five-place grid penalty, as his battle with title rival Lando Norris intensified.
But with Sunday morning’s wet qualifying conditions looking like they could have offered him an opportunity to pull off a surprise against Norris, it all went wrong in the closing stages of the second qualifying segment.
Verstappen had failed to improve as the track conditions steadily got better through the final minutes and, after slipping down to 12th, he was caught out by a crash involving Lance Stroll as he attempted a final effort to get through.
With the yellow flags out as Verstappen passed the stricken Aston Martin at Turn 3, he had to back off – and he knew there would be no other attempt to make it through after the red flag was eventually brought out.
Aware of the implications of the stoppage, Verstappen gesticulated in the cockpit and expressed his frustration over the team radio as he knew that the session would not be restarted.
Speaking to Sky after the session, a clearly agitated Verstappen said he did not understand why there had been a delay in stopping the session.
“If a guy goes straight into the wall, it is a straight red,” he said. “I don’t understand why you need to take 30, 40 seconds for a red flag to come out…”
When suggested it had been to allow some drivers to finish their laps, he replied: “I don’t care in all honesty, it is so stupid to talk about. It’s ridiculous.”
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner echoed his driver’s frustrations after qualifying when speaking to Sky Sports F1: “It’s hugely frustrating in a session like that, there’s obviously a huge amount going on.
“I don’t understand why it took so long for the red flag to come out for obviously a big accident. Turn 3 and one of the most dangerous corners on the circuit. It took 40 seconds to throw the red flag and it’s the second day in a row now that we’ve had very late calls, whether it was a VSC yesterday or the red flag today, the other red flags were all instantaneous.
“So very, very harsh. But it is what it is. We’ve got to try and fight back this afternoon.”
Verstappen’s Q2 exit marked a double blow for Red Bull, with his team-mate Sergio Perez also failing to make it through to Q3 after he ended up 13th.
With his five-place grid drop for a fresh engine, Verstappen will now line up 17th on the grid.
