Horner: Whiting 'too conservative' in Monza rain calls

Red Bull Formula 1 chief Christian Horner feels that FIA race director Charlie Whiting was "too conservative" in his decision-making during the rain-hit qualifying session for the Italian Grand Prix, having delayed the resumption of running for two-and-a-half hours.

Heavy rain overnight and in the lead-up to qualifying at Monza left the track drenched, with a crash for Romain Grosjean after five minutes resulting in a red flag delay that would continue throughout the afternoon.

After missing one break in the weather due to concerns about standing water, Whiting eventually deemed conditions to be safe for running over two hours after the red flag was thrown, only for drivers to be able to move onto intermediate tyres within 10 minutes of heading out.

While qualifying was eventually completed, the delays left both the teams and fans frustrated, with Horner believing that Whiting played it too safe.

"He was a bit conservative to be honest, both in Formula 1 and in Formula 2. It seemed a little too conservative," Horner said, making reference to the F2 race that started behind the safety car due to the weather.

"Formula 1 isn’t a fair-weather sport, and I think you can understand from a safety perspective why there was an awful lot of debate about it.

"But I think we could’ve run sooner than we did."

When asked if it was an issue the F1 Strategy Group would raise at its next meeting, Horner said: "I think it’s more an FIA internal issue than a Strategy Group issue."