Formula One’s governing FIA defended its determination to not purple flag the climax of Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix – after Max Verstappen’s victory behind the protection automotive was booed by livid Ferrari followers.
Verstappen may now clinch his second world championship on the subsequent spherical in Singapore on October 3 following his fifth victory in succession. His title lead stands at 115 factors with solely 164 out there.
Charles Leclerc offered some opposition to Verstappen, however an aggressive two-stop technique by Ferrari didn’t repay.
On lap 47 of 53, Leclerc trailed Verstappen by 16 seconds. However, he seemed set to be handed one other shot at victory when Daniel Ricciardo broke down between the 2 Lesmos, and the protection automotive was deployed.
Huge roars rippled across the Monza Autodromo. But the tifosi’s cheers turned to jeers when Ricciardo’s McLaren couldn’t be faraway from hazard in time, and regular racing situations didn’t resume.
Leclerc completed second forward of George Russell, following one other wonderful efficiency from the British driver in his Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton, thrown down the grid for exceeding his allocation of engine elements, drove nicely from nineteenth to fifth.
Verstappen confronted a refrain of boos when he arrived on the rostrum as followers gave the thumbs down following the outcome.
Red Bull workforce principal Christian Horner stated: “We had the faster car, and we would have liked to have won the race on the track, not behind the safety car.
“We share the disappointment of all the fans because it took away a grandstand finish. They were the biggest losers today.”
There was additionally a suggestion that the protection automotive choosing up Russell – somewhat than chief Verstappen when it entered the monitor – additionally scuppered treasured time.
It was an accusation the FIA denied with Ricciardo’s automotive solely eliminated firstly of the penultimate lap. Two laps should then be accomplished behind the protection automotive earlier than the race can restart.
An FIA spokesperson stated: “While every effort was made to recover Ricciardo’s car quickly and resume racing, the situation developed, and marshals were unable to put the car into neutral and push it into the escape road.
“As the safety of the recovery operation is our only priority, and the incident was not significant enough to require a red flag.
“The race ended under a safety car following the procedures agreed between the FIA and all competitors. The timing of the safety car period within a race has no bearing on this procedure.”
Michael Masi was sacked as F1 race director after he fudged the foundations to permit Verstappen the prospect to beat Hamilton to the title in a one-lap shootout eventually season’s contentious decider in Abu Dhabi.
On Sunday, Hamilton’s Mercedes boss Toto Wolff praised Masi’s successor, Niels Wittich, for following the right protocol.
Wolff stated: “It is very clear. There are rules, they are written down, and from my perspective, whether I am traumatised by Abu Dhabi or not, these rules today have been followed to the letter.
“There was a car out on track, and there were marshals and a crane out there and that is why they didn’t let anyone overtake. There was not enough time to restart the race.
“You can only red flag the race if someone is in the wall or the track is blocked. If one is not happy with the regulations and you want to have a big-bang show and two laps of racing and mayhem, then I am up for that, but we need to change the regulations.”
FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem will meet with workforce bosses in Monza on Monday. The controversial security automotive end is prone to be close to the highest of the agenda.
Verstappen will take the crown in Singapore with 5 rounds nonetheless remaining if he outscores Leclerc by 22 factors, team-mate Sergio Perez by 13 factors, and Russell by six factors.
Source: www.unbiased.co.uk