Formula One chiefs were forced to defend the handling of yesterday’s Monaco Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton led criticism of the hefty delays that saw the race cut short.
The start of the race, which was won by Sergio Perez of Red Bull, was pushed back by more than an hour because of heavy rain, before a second lengthy delay following Mick Schumacher’s crash meant only 64 of the planned 77 laps could be completed within the allotted three-hour race window.
Race director Eduardo Freitas was overseeing just his second Grand Prix, one of two men now sharing the role following the controversial ending to last season that saw Michael Masi eventually ousted.
The FIA said the Portuguese took the initial decision to delay the start because the weekend’s practice and qualifying sessions had all taken place in dry conditions but Hamilton said: "We are Formula One drivers, so that is definitely not a good reason.
“I was like ‘let’s go’ when it was just drizzling a little bit at the beginning. We will talk about it in the drivers’ briefing but we should have started the race.”
Organisers later claimed that the delays had been worsened by a power outage affecting the starting system as a result of the downpour, while Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff also claimed that the problem also impacted TV broadcasters.
“The rain at the beginning was torrential,” he said. “Then there was an issue with the connectivity for the TV broadcast which meant we couldn’t get going.”
