Christian Horner said he did not understand why there was such a delay in displaying the red flag at a pivotal moment in the qualifying session in Brazil.

Lance Stroll’s late crash played a role in both Red Bulls’ exits in Q2, but it was race director Niels Wittich’s decision that ultimately decided their fate.

Christian Horner left confused at race director’s red flag call

After a rainy Saturday, F1 returned to Interlagos for a 7:30am start to try and start qualifying while the weather was a little nicer, but even with the different conditions it was still an extremely difficult challenge for drivers with fewer than five red flags throughout the extended session.

And while Lando Norris took pole, there was fury within the Red Bull camp after a controversial call from the race director sent out Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in Q2.

With just under two minutes remaining in Q2, Stroll crashed at Turn 3, but it took race director Wittich 40 seconds to signal the red flag, appearing to allow Norris to complete a flying lap before neutralizing the event.

This made Verstappen furious and Horner admitted that it didn’t make sense.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” he told Sky F1. “In a session like this, obviously a lot happens. I don’t understand why it took so long for the red flag to go up.

“It’s obviously a big accident. Turn 3, one of the most dangerous turns on the circuit. It took 40 seconds to raise the red flag and this is the second day in a row now that we have had very late calls whether it was a VSC yesterday or the red flag today.

“The other warning signs were all instantaneous. So look, I mean, it’s very, very hard, but you know, it is what it is. We must try to fight back this afternoon.

This fightback will start from afar on the grid with Verstappen’s penalty temporarily pushing him to 16th place while Perez qualified 13th.

More information on qualifying in Sao Paulo

2024 Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying winners and losers

F1 starting grid: What is the grid order for the 2024 Brazilian GP?

One small positive is that the narrow gap between qualifying and the race meant that some of the drivers who crashed might not even be able to start the race. Alex Albon was the first to say too much damage had been done to his Williams, although the team has yet to confirm this was the case.

As for the red flag incident, Horner reiterated that the focus should be on safety, not letting drivers complete their laps.

“You have to focus on safety. It’s not about letting the cars complete their laps or not. Whenever you have an accident like that, it should be an immediate wake-up call, because you have a driver in the wall, one of the most dangerous corners on the circuit, you have cars passing, and you can do it. I don’t say “oh, well, we’ll just wait for the others to finish their turn.”

“It doesn’t work like that.

“Lance Stroll wasn’t trying to get that car running again. It was fucked up. It hit the barrier hard. It was in the middle of the track, turn 3, it’s a red flag.

“If they had reported it immediately, Max would have been 10th. If they had reported it immediately, it’s time for another round.

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