Max Verstappen slammed the delay in bringing out the red flag for Lance Stroll’s crash following his own shock Q2 exit at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver’s world championship hopes suffered a major blow on Sunday morning as his Q2 elimination means he will start 17th after a five-place grid drop for an engine change.
Sunday morning’s wet qualifying conditions looked like they could have offered him an opportunity to pull off a surprise against title rival Lando Norris - but 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 Sports 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.”
Verstappen’s 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 but will start 12th due to the triple world champion’s penalty.
Team boss Christian Horner echoed Verstappen's frustrations, as he told Sky Sports: "I don't understand why it took so long for the red flag to come out.
"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."
Horner added: "As soon as you have an accident like that, it should be an immediate red flag because you've got a driver in the wall, one of the most dangerous corners on the circuit.
"You've got cars coming through and you can't say, ‘Oh, well, we'll just wait for the others to finish their laps’.
"It doesn't work like that. And I know that [Sky F1’s David] Croft was endorsing that but Lance Stroll was not trying to get that car going again. It was screwed.
"It hit the barrier hard. It was in the middle of the track at Turn 3 - that's a red flag.”
