Lewis Hamilton gets Christian Horner's support as F1 rule change demanded

07 November 2023 , 08:06

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Christian Horner has spoken out on Formula 1's parc ferme rules (Image: Getty Images)

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has questioned Formula 1's parc ferme rules for sprint weekends after Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from the United States Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion and Charles Leclerc were both disqualified in Austin last month after post-race checks led to the discovery of excessive wear on their skid blocks.

Unsurprisingly, Hamilton - who finished second in the race - gave a fairly blunt reaction to developments when he was asked for his verdict on the decision. He said: "It is of course disappointing to be disqualified post-race, but that doesn't take away from the progress we've made this weekend."

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, however, was quick to hold his hands up to the error, adding: "Set-up choices on a sprint weekend are always a challenge with just one hour of free practice – and even more so at a bumpy circuit like COTA and running a new package.

"In the end, all of that doesn't matter – others got it right where we got it wrong and there's no wiggle room in the rules. We need to take it on the chin, do the learning, and come back stronger next weekend."

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While Wolff was happy to shoulder responsibility, Horner has effectively thrown his weight behind Hamilton by speaking out on the current rules - ones which he believes should be simplified going forward.

Speaking to Sky Sports during the Brazilian Grand Prix at the weekend, Horner was asked about parc ferme on sprint weekends and said: "Keep it simple. For me, parc ferme, locking a car in doesn't really work after one session."

He then tore into current format for sprint weekends in general, adding: "Why not take the championship order and reverse the top ten for a shootout? But then it's got to mean something.

"It's got to have sufficient points to it because you could tell at the end of that race, we're not quite sure whether we congratulate each other or not. I think it's got to have more meaning to it.

"You've got to create more to it. It's got to be more of an event in itself rather than an extended long run with a medal at the end. It needs a think over the winter because I think there's real merit to doing something, but I don't think we've got it quite right at the moment."

Dan Marsh