Christian Horner calls for "a good look" at "nuts" Monza qualifying

Italian Grand Prix

Horner calls for "a good look" at "nuts" Monza qualifying

The pit chaos came to a head in Q2

Sam Hall

Saturday 11 September 2021 09:30

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has branded the chaotic scenes in both the pit lane and on the track during qualifying for the Italian Grand prix as "nuts".

Aston Martin and Alpine were hit with fines for their part in the qualifying madness due to unsafe incidents in the pit lane.

On the track, Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris were among a number of drivers to encounter crawling traffic on their hot laps, which led to them all slating the circumstances via the team radio.

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Assessing what unfolded, Horner told Sky Sports F1: “The tow is so valuable here so if you run a little bit out of sync...

"I think Max got caught up on the first run by being out of sync, and there was a whole bunch of cars all over the place and the closing speeds are so massive here.

“It’s very difficult unless you send them out one by one for individual qualifying. It’s all part of it, trying to get that extra bit of track position.

"But it does need to be safe and, of course, the pit lane is getting a little bit nuts as well.

“Thankfully there were no incidents but it’s something we should definitely have a good look at.”

F1 pit wall communication "could be better"

Speaking after qualifying, McLaren driver Norris 'thanked God' he was able to avoid an accident in the heavy traffic.

Race engineers are charged with keeping drivers informed about what those around them on the track are doing. Horner feels this could have been handled better by some teams during the session.

"The pit lane gets very busy, gets very aggressive but you’ve got some big closing speeds and, of course, the drivers rely on the teams to tell them who is on a fast lap," added Horner.

“Sometimes you feel like communication could be better but it is one of the nuances of racing in Monza I’m afraid.”