“It was right on the edge” – Christian Horner believes the changing weather conditions made it difficult for Michael Masi to bring in red flag earlier during Spa qualifying

“It was right on the edge” – Christian Horner has come to the defense of FIA race director Michael Masi after he brought the red flag only after Lando Norris suffered a massive collision at Spa.

Sebastian Vettel was most vocal in expressing his frustration after Lando Norris crashed on the Raidillon corner. He wanted the red flag to be called in earlier and did not mince his words on the Aston Martin team radio.

Yeah, well what the f*ck did I say? What did I say? Red flag! It is unnecessary.

Vettel later explained the reasoning behind his rant, and why he felt the session shouldn’t have commenced in the first place.

“Not proud of what happened… I think the truth is the session should not have started at all. There’s plenty of things we could have done better. It’s better to be safe one time too many than one time too little.”

watch them investigate Vettel for stopping on track to check if Norris was ok

— ً (@rIane890) August 28, 2021

Christian Horner disagrees with Vettel

Vettel’s former Red Bull boss Christian Horner did not agree with his opinion, though.

Horner explained how it was difficult for the Red Bull team to even decide on the choice of tyres, such was the unpredictable weather condition. He added how Max Verstappen was feeling “right on the edge”, and was glad Norris is back and fit to race.

“That’s a really tough one [decision to red flag]. Just before that session, we were debating whether it was inters or not. The conditions changed so quickly that obviously, on the out lap the drivers were saying it’s incredibly wet.

“It’s incredibly tough for the race director so thankfully the car has done its job, the barriers and all the safety provisions too and thankfully Lando is okay.

“They were saying it was right on the edge. Max was saying there was a lot of aquaplaning on the straight. He was obviously a bit further behind but it was right on the edge and changing so quickly.”

Read More “I was aquaplaning quite a bit” – Lando Norris returns from hospital and will start today’s Belgian GP after incurring a 5-place grid penalty

About the author

Subham Jindal

A Red - be it Manchester United or Ferrari. Hails from the hills of Kalimpong, Darjeeling. Aspiring to become a respected Sports Management professional.

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