The FIA has defined the 40-second pink flag delay after Lance Stroll’s crash in Method 1’s Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying that Crimson Bull feels price Max Verstappen a shot at avoiding Q2 elimination.
Stroll tagged the obstacles after spinning off at Flip 3 within the second qualifying section, bringing out the yellow flag with 1m37s left on the clock.
Verstappen was one of many first automobiles on the scene of Stroll’s crash, seeing his lap ruined by the double-waved yellow, which left him on the bubble in tenth.
Lower than two seconds after the yellow flag, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc improved his lap time to dump Verstappen out, with the Crimson Bull driver finally bumped right down to twelfth, which can turn out to be seventeenth on the grid after his five-place engine change penalty.
Finally the double-waved yellows became a pink flag after a 40-second wait, which incensed Red Bull as it felt an immediate red flag would have allowed Verstappen enough time for another run.
Crimson Bull was significantly livid as a result of in Q3 the pink flag did come out swiftly for crashes by Fernando Alonso and Alex Albon.
“I do not perceive why it took so lengthy for the pink flag to come back out, it’s clearly an enormous accident,” Horner advised Sky Sports activities F1.
Christian Horner, Group Principal Crimson Bull Racing
Photograph by: Crimson Bull Content material Pool
“Flip 3 and probably the most harmful corners on the circuit. It took 40 seconds to throw the pink flag and it is the second day in a row now that we have had very late calls, whether or not it was a VSC yesterday or the pink flag right now, the opposite pink flags have been all instantaneous.
“All you’ve obtained to do is deal with the protection. It isn’t about letting automobiles end laps. Stroll was not attempting to get that automotive going once more. It was screwed.”
Autosport has discovered that FIA race management did not determine to attend with the pink flag to let different drivers end their laps, however as a result of it might see on Stroll’s onboards that the Canadian was nonetheless attempting to convey his automotive again to the pitlane.
The prolonged qualifying session and the quick turnaround time to the race at 12:30 native time meant it was essential – and doubtlessly race saving – for drivers to make it again to the pits after an incident so the groups can restore the automobiles.
For instance, after his early shunt Franco Colapinto’s Williams was caught behind the barrier for over 90 minutes till the tip of qualifying, earlier than Williams might even start to evaluate the harm.
Stroll was due to this fact instructed by his race engineer to attempt to convey his Aston again if doable, being advised that his engine and temperatures have been nonetheless good to go.
Solely after it was apparent to race management that the Canadian wasn’t capable of get going, because of crippling suspension harm, it determined to problem a pink flag. Even after the pink flag Aston nonetheless hoped Stroll might get his automobile again to the pitlane, earlier than he was advised to close it down.
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR24, after crashing out of Qualifying
Photograph by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Pictures
Whereas Stroll was stationary within the run-off space on the exit of a nook the place a number of different drivers had spun or crashed, the FIA was happy to remain below double-waved yellow flag situations till then as a result of it successfully acted as a neighborhood pink flag, with drivers required to decelerate and be ready to cease on the scene of the accident, with their lap instances ruined anyway.
Within the case of Alonso and Albon, the pair suffered a a lot heavier crash that introduced out the medical automotive, so it was instantly apparent to race management that their automobiles have been going no additional and a swift pink flag was warranted.
Ranging from seventeenth, Verstappen has an enormous problem on his palms to restrict the harm in comparison with championship rival Lando Norris, who took pole in his McLaren forward of Mercedes’ George Russell.
Verstappen leads Norris by 44 factors after the Briton received Saturday’s dash race, with the world champion fourth, having completed third on the street however was given a five-second time penalty for a digital security automotive infringement which dropped him behind Leclerc.