Adrian Sutil on Wednesday played down the fuss that is being made about the traffic chaos that is likely to affect the Monaco GP weekend.
With 24 cars on the grid this year, and six of them circulating at vastly slower pace, mainly leading drivers are vocally worried about being thwarted between the Armco barriers — particularly in Q1.
But Force India’s Sutil told Motorsport-Magazin.com: "Some years ago it was normal that cars were within five, six seconds and someone was often held up.
"At that time nobody complained while today a big drama is being made of it. You have to take the situation as it is," added the German.
Heikki Kovalainen is one of the occupants of the dreaded six stragglers, but he warned on Wednesday that he will focus on the track ahead and not his mirrors while on qualifying flying laps this weekend.
"I have a job to do," said the Finn.
His Lotus teammate Jarno Trulli, meanwhile, echoed Sutil’s comments about the past, reminding reporters that 22 cars headed to Monaco in his rookie season 1997 with a similarly big gap between the fastest and slowest cars.
"I don’t have a solution. I don’t care, I just want to go out in qualifying and do a quick lap," he is quoted by the BBC.