Sainz draws conclusion after Verstappen and Norris incident: 'No more!'

F1 News

Sainz on moving under braking from Verstappen
5 July at 07:30
  • Estéban den Toom

After the Austrian Grand Prix, there was much discussion in Formula 1 about the incident between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. Also at Silverstone, where the final Grand Prix of the triple header is scheduled this weekend, the crash between Norris and Verstappen was a hot topic. Carlos Sainz also scrutinised the situation and responded.

The Dutchman was on P1, but the Brit wanted to overtake him to take the lead. Verstappen was not about to simply give the race lead to Norris and defended fiercely. While defending, the two punctured each other's tyres. Norris had to abandon the battle and drove the McLaren back to the pits. Verstappen was able to continue, but finished fifth.

Sainz sees more and more rules in Formula 1

Sainz is bothered by the amount of rules currently in the king class of motorsport. "it is clear that you can move to defend and then come back but always leave one car width to the white line so the other car fits. I really struggle with the fact that we need to keep adding rules to the racing side," he told the traditional media day in England.

"I think there's so many already. If you guys read the rule book about what you need to do if you overtake on the inside, what you need to do if you defend on the inside, what you need to do if you attack on the outside, what you need to do if you defend from the outside…it's all a different set of regulations that is already super detailed," Sainz continued when asked about the incident between Norris and Verstappen.

Especially when you're in a Formula 1 car, at those speeds, it's hard to always follow the rules, Sainz knows. "I struggle to follow exactly when I'm in a car driving at 300 kph because you cannot think at that speed about all those rules. I don't want any further rules. The rules are clear enough and there was a decision taken on the steward side already so it's not like there's nothing much to talk," the Ferrari driver explained at Silverstone.