Martin Brundle gives verdict on ‘unseemingly’ pit lane queueing during Mexico qualifying

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Martin Brundle has shared his thoughts on the bizarre situation that took place in the pit lane during qualifying at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Brundle was writing on Sky Sports after commentating on Max Verstappen’s sixteenth win of the season.

He described it during the session on commentary as one of the most bizarre qualifying sessions he had ever seen.

That was primarily for two reasons, the first was the dramatic change in performance some cars suffered.

Alex Albon was rapid in practice but failed to reach Q3 due to a slight change in temperature on Saturday afternoon.

Both Ferrari drivers scraped through to the top ten shootout before putting their cars on the front row of the grid ahead of Verstappen.

The other thing that surprised Brundle in Mexico during qualifying was the pit lane shenanigans.

In both of the first two sessions, cars were queuing up and stopping at the end of the pit lane looking for a gap to drive into.

While it looked like plenty of drivers could pick up penalties for their actions going into Sunday’s race, the FIA let them off the hook.

Brundle gives verdict on pit lane actions in Mexico

Speaking about the stopping and starting towards the end of the first two qualifying sessions, Brundle said: “In qualifying we witnessed the unseemly sight of drivers parked at the end of the pitlane holding up all those behind whilst they made a suitable gap for their qualifying laps.

“Furthermore, other drivers were holding up rivals beyond the pitlane but before the critical white-painted safety car line.

“This means the drivers manage the situation before that rule kicks in at the first line, and many penalties were expected for what appeared to be very unsporting behaviour, but the FIA decided that in fact the drivers did a good job of spreading themselves out around the track and it’s better to be very slow in the pits than on the track.

“In the pit lane, in theory, you can pass another stationary car, but perhaps they should be obliged to stop in the middle lane rather than the fast lane.

“However, there are two issues there, the cars wouldn’t then be spaced out particularly well on track, and some circuits like Monaco don’t have the space for a spare middle pit lane like that.

“It does seem unfair for teams positioned at the far end of the pitlane, and those drivers who need to get out and get on with regard to their qualifying lap preparation.

“For now, I guess we have to explain that it’s an acceptable practice by precedent, let the drivers and teams sort it out among themselves, and look for a better solution.”

Better to be safe than sorry from the pit lane

As Brundle alludes to, the speed the drivers are coming past the pit lane down the main straight in Mexico is some of the highest recorded during the season.

Drivers tend to go to the left of the track after their flying laps to let other drivers pass which makes leaving the pits slightly concerning.

The alternative is that drivers try and space themselves out on the track which can create more traffic for those on their quick laps.

Russell was one driver who avoided a penalty after stopping and when asked about it said: “They ask us not to stop in the pit lane, but if you don’t make your gap in the pit lane, you have to make it on track.

“And for me, it’s quite dangerous if you’re doing 10 km/h down the straight when cars are doing 330 on their push laps.”

It’s not a perfect solution and the FIA might need to provide more clarity on what’s acceptable and what isn’t.