'Really dangerous' F1 issue branded 'plaster' over larger problem

Carlos Sainz believes active aerodynamics is a "plaster" over the power unit deployment issues F1 has faced early in the new regulations cycle.

The season-opening Australian Grand Prix was branded "sketchy" and "dangerous", not only by the Williams driver, but a whole host of other drivers, including Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris.

Zeroing in on the specifics of the situation, Sainz explained how Straight Mode (SM) — particularly on the heavily discussed fourth activation zone at Albert Park — left the cars hard to handle, a view shared by co-Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) director George Russell.

When asked for his verdict on the racing at the curtain raiser by RacingNews365, the Spaniard detailed how the first lap, and overtaking in general, was not "very safe" at the advent of the new rules era.

"The biggest worry for me about the racing is lap one," he said. "It felt like it was really sketchy with SM on everyone on the back straight.

"It felt really dangerous and very difficult to control the car in the slipstream and SM. And then when racing someone else, the same. If it's a straight line, it's not bad, because it's like DRS last year.

"But when there's a bit of cornering, and both cars are using SM — like there's cornering in Turn 7 and 8, and that back straight — it feels sketchy.

"I think SM is the plaster on top of the engine to protect [against] the deployment issues we have. But, for sure, lap one and overtaking don't seem to be very safe at the minute with SM open."

Power unit regulations 'doesn't seem to work very well right now'

The area of the track in Melbourne Sainz took a disliking to was highlighted by the drivers during their Friday evening briefing with the FIA, which prompted the motorsport governing body to remove the activation point through the sweeping section between Turns 8 and 9.

However, with this move being made only a few hours before FP3, the teams pushed back over what would have been a strategic headache, prompting the FIA to reverse its decision.

When it was put to Sainz that perhaps the removal in that section of Albert Park was the right idea, but perhaps too late in the day, the 31-year-old doubled down on his view that F1 needs to address the power unit regulations.

"We should not need to have active aero for racing, in my opinion," he added whilst reiterating his belief that active aerodynamics and SM is a plaster on top of the problem.

"And then when you come to circuits like this, where you're energy starved, you end up having to use SM in places where we shouldn't, to protect the deployment.

"So, in the end, you end up having a dangerous situation, like we had on lap one and when racing in general.

"The issue is not the SM. We need it. If not, we would be... You guys saw, we were doing lift and coast like crazy in qualifying, all teams. 

"If you remove SM, you cannot even race with the deployment we have, so we kind of need SM, but it's a plaster to a solution to an engine formula that, to me, doesn't seem to work very well right now."

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