Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has ridiculed Pierre Gasly’s penalty at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Frenchman will have to start from the pit-lane for Sunday’s race after missing a call to the weighbridge during practice on Friday.
It is an automatic penalty rather than one decided by the stewards with the Red Bull chief revealing it is an old rule that has never been updated.
“This regulation is a hangover from when we used to have qualifying on a Friday and if qualifying on Friday got cancelled, then they would refer back to the times of the previous practice,” he told Sky Sports.
“It is about as draconian as you can possibly get.”
While accepting that Gasly had broken the rules by missing the random call, Horner also explained why the punishment doesn’t “fit the crime”.
“If he had been running 50 kilos underweight, his penalty would have been less than what he actually got for missing that light,” he said.
It is a matter, the Red Bull boss continued, that even F1 owners Liberty Media agree needs addressing.
“This regulation was discussed this [Saturday] morning and Ross Brawn, Chase Carey, they all agreed [it was wrong,” he claimed.
“Let’s have a good go through these regulations as some of them refer back to instances that are irrelevant now.
“And let’s tidy up these silly penalties that don’t match the crime being committed, particularly on a Friday.”