Carlos Sainz calls on FIA to introduce new F1 penalty that would shake-up qualifying

Hot off the back of the controversy in Austria, Carlos Sainz has leapt to the defense of Max Verstappen, but has implored the FIA to consider making harsher penalties for drivers causing yellow flags in the grid-defining Qualifying rounds.

Formula 1 would look a lot different if Carlos Sainz stepped into the shoes of FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

The Spaniard recently proposed a completely new concept for Formula 1 that would see the 'ultimate' driver championed, rather than the driver lucky enough to be in the fastest car - although that might be more indicative of his feelings stuck in a Williams car that needs a complete overhaul, rather than the Ferrari that he sported two years back.

Now, Sainz has given his opinion on what should happen to drivers causing yellow flags in qualifying, as he has urged the FIA to incentivise clean laps.

Sainz calls for three-place penalties for Qualifying spin-offs

The Austrian Grand Prix was defined by a spin-off for Max Verstappen in the dying embers of Qualifying, which saw George Russell take advantage of the rule book fine print to set pole position while teammate Kimi Antonelli had his lap time hindered.

Sainz, who is the chairman of the GPDA driver's union, claimed that what happened in Austria was all executed perfectly, in accordance with the rules, but it should never have been allowed.

Echoing the thoughts of Verstappen, he said that double yellow flags should have been waved to protect the driver who had crashed.

But Sainz went a step further, as the Spaniard says that anyone causing a yellow or red flag in qualifying should be given a three-place penalty on the grid.

This isn't a reflection on Verstappen, though, whose car malfunctioned while in P3, but rather a way of making it fair, as drivers, hypothetically, in pole position could spin off and keep their starting place with everyone behind unable to record times under double yellows.

"I am going to make a proposal, and then we can discuss whether it should be implemented that way or not," he said in an interview with RacingNews365.

"I think anyone who causes a yellow or red flag in qualifying should receive a three-place grid penalty. That way, at least you get punished and discouraged from slamming into things at full throttle."

"Suppose Max had been on pole after the first run, then caused a crash and a red flag came out, meaning no one could improve their time... Then that would be unfair to George [Russell], Kimi [Antonelli], and the rest, because the man on pole wouldn't give us the chance to improve his lap time."

"It is typical for Monaco, for instance. I could have done it myself last year in Baku when I was on top and the first car out of the pits for the final run. I thought at the time, 'If I crash now, I'll be on pole.'"

"We all have those kinds of thoughts, we all think about it sometimes, and we all know how the regulations work."

"Whoever it may be. If you push full throttle but you push over the limit and thereby prevent others from improving their time, then you essentially earn a position by preventing others from setting a better time than you – even if it wasn't intentional.

Sainz doubled down on his defence of the Verstappen spin-off and Russell's use of the rulebook to go pole, insisting that it was perfectly executed, even if the rules need changing.

"The way George handled it was perfect within what the regulations allow, and he fully deserved pole position because he utilized the rules perfectly. But in my opinion, it should never have been allowed to finish the lap, or to complete a fast lap at all, in such a dangerous situation."

The popular Williams driver says that he would like to be heard before the Silverstone sprint weekend, but knows that time is precious on a jam-packed weekend in the UK.