Ghosts of the past resurfaced at the Monaco Grand Prix, which saw its start delayed with unclear messages from the FIA due to heavy rain in the Principality. When the pilots were ready to see the traffic lights go out, the international federation announced that they would wait a few minutes until they came out behind the safety car, recalling what happened in the grotesque ‘no race’ in Belgium.
It was not until one hour and five minutes after the scheduled time that the single-seaters were able to be on the asphalt at competition speed, although without a normal start, since Race Direction relaunched the test behind the Safety Car to avoid accidents in Santa Devota.
As the laps passed, it was shown that the cars could circulate through the streets of the Principality without apparent problems, and although the FIA attributes the delay to a mishap with the electronic grid panel system, the reality is that it was another close moment to the ridiculous of the category.
When one of Formula 1’s heavyweights, Lewis Hamilton, was asked about the situation in Monaco and his opinion on the new race directors now running the grands prix, the Briton said: “I don’t really know. the reason why they didn’t let us race from the beginning. I don’t have all the information.”
“We are Formula 1 drivers,” said the seven-time world champion. “Not a good reason, that’s what I was saying, it was like ‘come on’, it was just sparking a little bit at the beginning, so again I’m sure when we talk at the drivers’ briefing we’ll discuss it, but We should have started the race.”
After repeated criticism of Michael Masi for his controversial episodes last season, the FIA decided to do without the Australian and put Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas in charge, who combine their work with a reinforced team this year.
However Hamilton, when pressed about whether these new race directors were more cautious than Masi, the Mercedes driver did not want to comment too much: “Again, I don’t know, it’s a guess, I really don’t know.”
“I haven’t paid too much attention to all this, so they are doing their thing,” said the Englishman. “I’ve been so focused on trying to get this car out of the shit we’re going through.
“I think in the end we could have done at least one standing start, or maybe even two, but when the spray is crazy, I think it was the best we could do,” said Lewis Hamilton, who finished in eighth place . in a complicated Monaco Grand Prix.
