Brundle Would Like to See A Change In Regulations Following Unfair Sainz Incident
F1Thursday, 23 November 2023 at 02:00
Former F1 driver Martin Brundle called for a change in rules following Carlos Sainz's controversial FP1 incident at the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The weekend at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit was one of the most unfortunate ones of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Formula One driver Carlos Sainz.
The Spanish driver first had an incident in FP1 that completely damaged his car, and then he received a 10-place grid penalty for having to replace those components, even though it wasn't his or his team's fault.
Moreover, he went over an oil spill at the start of the race and ended up colliding with Lewis Hamilton and damaging his front wing, which put him in P17 after the first lap of the race.
Despite everything, the 29-year-old managed to recover from back of the grid and crossed the finish line in P7. He then moved up into P6 after Russell's five second penalty was applied. Martin Brundle wrote in his column for the Sky Sports column:
"[Sainz] was controlled but clearly beyond angry, as were his team who thought the penalty unfair in the circumstances. They also wanted to know who was going to pay for the damage."
Stewards noted in an official document that they would not penalize the Ferrari driver if it were in their power. However, they had to follow the rules. Brundle said:
"There are hundreds of pages of rules in the International Sporting Code and the specific F1 Sporting and Technical regulations. But nothing that can allow the Stewards to legally turn a blind eye if something just doesn't seem fair."
On the other hand, Bundle pointed out it might be dangerous to put inside the rules a clause that allows stewards to ignore regulations in some instances:
"It's perilous to write a clause and create a precedent where the Stewards can unilaterally ignore regulations in the name of common sense and fairness in force majeure situations, even if every team and others key bodies agree."
Nevertheless, it seems unfair for Sainz to get his race destroyed due to outside circumstances that neither he nor his team could influence. The former F1 driver concluded:
"But we really must add some wording, with due checks and balances, which can be applied without fear of ensuing legal actions, or teams using it to advantage in other scenarios."
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