LEWIS HAMILTON is demanding showdown talks with the FIA after the Monaco Grand Prix chaos.
The race directors sent the drivers out for a delayed formation lap in the rain before red flagging the start and ordering the cars back to the paddock as the weather worsened.
And proceedings finally got underway an hour late – despite the rain virtually stopping way before that.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton – and other drivers – could not understand why they were forced to wait so long and wants answers from the bungling Formula One organisers at the next drivers’ briefing.
The Brit said: “You think they didn’t do a good job? I was not saying it was a mistake.
“I don’t know the reason for them not sending us out at the get-go — but we are Formula 1 drivers so (the weather) is not a good enough reason.
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“That is what I was saying. I was like ‘let’s go’ when it was just drizzling a little bit at the beginning.
“We will talk about it in the drivers’ briefing but we should have started the race.”
Max Verstappen also asked his race engineers on the radio: “What are we waiting for?”
According to the Express, there were reports of a power cut just before the race was due to start impacting the starting gantry and TV broadcasters.
The official line from the FIA was “safety reasons in consideration that there has been no wet running this weekend”.
That delay, though, caused havoc – Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz labelled it as “complete confusion, pandemonium in the pit lane, people are getting knocked over”.
He added: “I just don’t get this, it is barely spitting with rain.
“What is going on with these calls with Race Control at the start of this race.
“It is barely spitting with rain, I don’t need an umbrella standing here in the pitlane.”
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Once the race did get underway, raging pole-sitter Charles Leclerc was undone by Ferrari’s strategy fail to drop from first to fourth and then Mick Schumacher smashed his car in two after a horror crash.
But from then on it was a relatively drama-free race as Sergio Perez held on for victory ahead of Carlos Sainz and Verstappen with Leclerc fourth.
Mercedes duo George Russell and Hamilton finished fifth and eighth respectively.
And the results stood after the Ferrari protests against both Red Bull cars crossing the pitlane exit during the race were thrown out.
