Horner unhappy with the end of the Monza race
Monday, 12 September 2022
The Red Bull team principal was not satisfied.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was frustrated by the decision to end the Italian Grand Prix under a safety car.
A late breakdown for Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren meant any chance for late drama was dashed at Monza, as Red Bull's Max Verstappen sealed his fifth successive victory.
Verstappen is now 116 points ahead of Charles Leclerc in the driver standings and seems all set to wrap up a second straight world title when Formula 1® returns in October.
Yet Horner was not satisfied with how the race ended, believing it could have been finished properly.
"We don't want to win a race under a safety car," Horner told Sky Sports F1. "It's something we've talked about for many, many years, that they should finish racing.
"There was enough time to get that race going. We had the faster car, we would have liked to win the race on the track, not behind the safety car. We share the disappointment of all the fans, because it took away a grandstand finish.
"It goes against the principles of what we've discussed previously. The biggest losers were the fans. We need to look quickly to address that.
"I think they had more than enough time to get going. We need to go through details, but for me there was enough time, we had a car that wasn't in a barrier, it was just by the side of the track."
Leclerc had been attempting to close the gap on Verstappen, having been cost by another questionable decision by Ferrari on their home track.
Starting in pole, Leclerc found himself behind the Dutchman when Ferrari elected to switch him onto long-distance medium tyres early on.
It allowed Verstappen, who started with a five-place grid penalty on Sunday, to cruise to an 11th win of the season, albeit his maiden success at Monza.
"We had a great race," Verstappen said. "On every compound we were good. Unfortunately we didn't get a restart at the end but overall we had a really good day.
"It was really enjoyable to drive today. A great day for us. It took a bit of time to be on a great podium like this."
Monza, it has been a while 💪 #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/fmrnEWeVmJ
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) September 11, 2022
