Italian F1 GP should have been red flagged, Horner says

Although the drivers took the checkered flag under caution Max Verstappen was undisputed at the end, Horner believes the lack of cars racing to the line is bad for the championship.

He says it goes against a basic principle that teams have long agreed is essential that races don’t end in safety cars and leave fans disappointed.

While the FIA ​​blamed problems in retrieving the injured Daniel Ricciardo McLaren due to the fact that the race could not continue and that there was no reason to red flag the race because it was dangerous, Horner believes that there was enough opportunity to secure a podium finish.

As well as the FIA ​​doing better with its safety car procedures, after picking the wrong leader and then delaying getting the pack together in the right order, Horner believes that when it became clear that a restart was not possible, the race should have been stopped.

This would give the marshals more time to collect Ricciardo’s car and clear the track ready to shoot for a lap or two.

With fans at the track expressing displeasure at the situation when it became clear there would be no restart, Horner is clear the FIA ​​should use what happened as a learning experience.

“I think there’s always something to learn,” he said. “But it goes against the principles of what we discussed, that it’s not good to finish races under safety cars.

“If they knew they couldn’t run it, they should have flagged it and restarted it. But, obviously, that didn’t happen.”

Horner believes there is nothing wrong with F1’s sporting rules as they are, as he played down the need to change the rules to force a red flag when the safety car comes out on the final stage.

On the contrary, he is clear that the blame for what happened at Monza lies squarely with the FIA ​​for not sorting out its procedures.

“I think one could have been dealt with at the time, to be honest,” he said. “I think it was a case of picking the wrong car.

“The safety car didn’t pick up the leader and that led to a big delay where they had to catch up and then the released cars to catch up.

“I think you could do at least one race lap. Probably two.”

The handling of Monza’s safety car has reignited the debate over what happened in Abu Dhabi last year, when the FIA ​​changed its own rules to ensure the race did not end with a caution.

This led to an internal investigation by the FIA ​​and the suspension of then Formula 1 race director Michael Massi, with a new structure in place.

Asked if he felt the FIA ​​had made real progress since Abu Dhabi, Horner said: “I think it’s all a process and there have been huge changes. And obviously there are lessons that have been learned because you could hear the crowd’s displeasure.”

The developments at Monza come ahead of a meeting on Monday between FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulaiman and Formula 1 team principals to discuss aspects of the sport at the track.

Horner has no doubt that the safety car issue will be a priority in the discussion.

“The president also joins it to talk about certain points,” he said. “I’m sure it will now be at the center of the agenda.

“This is an attempt to get a lot of problems on the table. But we must avoid scenarios like we have at the end of the race.”

Asked if the rule forcing a red flag when there is a caution period later would be a step forward to avoid a safety car finish if something goes wrong, Horner said: “I think it’s better to do things right in first of all. “