"We’re not stupid" - Carlos Sainz says F1 drivers know the ones who cause deliberate red flags

Carlos Sainz believes that some drivers have deliberately brought out red flags during qualifying or races and that they should be penalized for doing so.

Speaking ahead of the 2022 F1 Abu Dhabi GP to select media, including Sportskeeda, the Ferrari driver said:

“Without commenting if it was on purpose or not, I think it’s for real now that all drivers – we want some kind of a rule. If you generate a red flag or a yellow flag, even if it’s intentional or not, there should be something done to that driver, because you’ve compromised the other nine on purpose, or maybe not. But you should get a penalty for it. If not, we’re all gonna start playing with it.”

Carlos Sainz feels some drivers have intentionally brought out red flags, particularly during qualifying sessions. The Ferrari man feels that if such incidents are not penalized, drivers will use it as a tactic and play around with the idea of intentionally bringing out red flags during qualifying and races. Analyzing such incidents, the Spaniard stated that most drivers are aware of such deliberate incidents, but it can compromise the performance of other drivers. Bringing out rules to avoid such acts might stop the tactic, according to the Ferrari driver.

Shedding further light on the deliberate red flags brought out by the drivers, Sainz said:

“I’m not gonna go into whether if it was on purpose or not, I think all 20 drivers in ourselves, when we analyse these kind of incidents, we know immediately if the driver has done it on purpose or not, because we’re not stupid. But I’m not going to comment. It’s an incident of the past. I’m just going to say that, if there would be a rule, it wouldn’t even go through your head. Even I think apply it to Q3 lappers, because it means that, in Q3, there’s a lot to win, but also something to lose. So you need to put a really good lap together with no mistakes if you want to take pole position.”

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Carlos Sainz has examples of drivers intentionally bringing out red flags in qualifying

Asked about examples of such incidents during sessions, the Ferrari driver laughed and said he had many stories to narrate. On whether there has been a discussion on such incidents, Carlos Sainz revealed that the issue has not been discussed but should be in the future. The Spaniard feels such incidents should be scrutinized next year and a rule or regulation should be introduced to curb them in the future.

Asked to narrate a few examples of drivers bringing out red flags deliberately, the Ferrari driver laughed, saying:

“Need to take the media out without microphones and tell a few stories.”

On whether the matter has been discussed with the FIA or amongst drivers, Carlos Sainz said:

“No, but I think it’s yet to be discussed. I think we’ve raised it a few times, but it’s never been concluded into something. I think for next year, that should be done. [There’s been] a few. It’s not regular. But it’s been enough times already that should there should be some kind of a rule.”

A popular incident that was brought into consideration recently was when Sergio Perez spun in qualifying in Monaco, which compromised Max Verstappen’s pole lap in Q3. The Mexican spun ahead of the tunnel in a suspicious manner and Carlos Sainz also spun in the same spot, making contact with him. The incident further compromised the laps of Charles Leclerc and many others who were eyeing pole position at the tricky circuit.