Italian Grand Prix start aborted as F1 fans complain about Monza 'farce'

03 September 2023 , 13:11

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Yuki Tsunoda's car began smoking on the formation lap (Image: Sky Sports)

The start of the Italian Grand Prix was delayed by more than 20 minutes after Yuki Tsunoda suffered an engine failure before it had even begun.

The teams set off on their formation lap as usual at exactly 2pm UK time. But there was immediately a problem as Tsunoda pulled over on the side of the track.

His AlphaTauri was visibly smoking and he was quick to jump out of the car. He reported over the radio that he had suffered an engine failure.

He was parked close to a service road, but the car was stuck in gear. That meant the marshals could not simply wheel it out of the way and so there was no quick fix to remove the danger.

A second formation lap took place to give the marshals more time. However, with the cars stood there on the grid after a second trip around the Monza circuit, it was clear that the start needed to be aborted.

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Team staff ran to the end of the pit lane with all their equipment anticipating a red flag. While the session was not officially stopped, the teams were given permission to send personnel back onto the grid to make sure the cars were not overheating.

Within minutes, the tyre warmers were back on the cars and the fans were placed back in the vents on the car to keep the engines and brakes cool. Meanwhile, Tsunoda was out of the race before it had even begun.

It became clear that a recovery vehicle was needed to move his stricken AlphaTauri, which is why the race start was aborted. But fans on social media were still annoyed by how a car pulling over at the side of the road had delayed the whole race.

One asked: "Why does F1 make things such more complicated than it needs to be?" Another wrote: "It's a joke that it takes 20 mins delay when one car stops on the formation lap." And a third said: "What an absolute farce this has been."

Race control soon issued an update, declaring that another formation lap would take place at 2.20pm. That went off without the hitch and the race, now reduced to 51 laps, was able to get under way 23 minutes after the original plan.

Daniel Moxon