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Seidl ‘strongly disagrees’ with inaction over yellow flag speeding

McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl “strongly disagrees” with Formula 1 race director Michael Masi’s decision not to take any action over yellow flag speeding in Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, kicks his car after crashing out

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, kicks his car after crashing out

Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

McLaren issued a complaint about AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda for allegedly speeding under double waved yellow flags in response to Max Verstappen’s accident on the main straight in Baku.

The incident was initially covered by double-waved yellows before a safety car was called for, with the race then being suspended under a red flag.

The TV world feed broadcast McLaren’s message to Masi, in which the team said it was “surprised” Tsunoda had not been investigated.

“Simply for me, the entire field should be penalised for not slowing under double yellows, in accordance with the regulations,” Masi replied.

When told Tsunoda’s breach was “obvious”, Masi said that “all of them are obvious” and that he would discuss the matter with the drivers at the pre-French Grand Prix briefing.

Video footage of the field passing through the crash site and double-waved yellow flags does appear to show varying speeds and levels of slowing down.

Speaking after the race, Seidl felt that the rule did not need clarification as it was “clear” what the drivers had to do, and that not taking any action was the wrong decision.

“From my point of view, things were happening out there today which were clearly not OK,” Seidl said.

“Also putting it into the context of what we got a penalty for, for example, yesterday [in qualifying] - but again that's all we can do, we can only report it.

Andreas Seidl McLaren Team Principal

Andreas Seidl McLaren Team Principal

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

“If the race director thinks there's no investigation required because everyone is doing it, which is something I strongly disagree with, you need to ask Michael Masi what he's after then.”

A number of drivers raised concerns after the race about the time it took for race control to deploy the safety car after Verstappen’s crash, with Charles Leclerc calling it a “joke” on team radio. The matter is set to be discussed at the next drivers’ briefing.

Asked if he felt Masi was doing a good job, Seidl said: “In general we are very happy with the job Michael is doing, which is a very difficult job.

“But the most important thing from our side is transparency and consistency and a good dialogue which we usually have with him.

“Of course there are situations from time to time where you disagree. That's normal: we’re on the competitor side, he's on the FIA side.

“But I guess if you look back now the time since he took over, I think he did a great job.”

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