Verstappen calls for major F1 rule change in Sainz sympathy

Max Verstappen has called for a rule change to be implemented in Formula 1 to avoid a repeat of the scenario that befell Carlos Sainz in Las Vegas.

Sainz's Ferrari car was damaged by a loose drain cover in the opening minutes of the first practice session on Thursday evening.

A red flag was deployed and the session was abandoned as a full track inspection had to be carried out to ensure the circuit's safety.

The drain cover damaged Sainz's Power Unit and the team requested to change components outside of its allocated penalty-free pool.

However, the Stewards highlighted that there is nothing written in the regulations that allow for such exceptions and Sainz was issued a 10-place grid drop for taking on a third Control Electronics unit.

Sainz blasted the penalty which has demoted him to 12th on the started grid after he ended qualifying in second place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen calls for change

Verstappen has insisted that F1 must look into changing the rule to avoid it happening again.

“The rules have to change for that,” Verstappen told media including RacingNews365.

"It’s the same if you get taken out and you have a big accident.

“You can lose parts of the engine, energy store, all these kinds of things. So, first of all, that needs to change.

“These things can be taken into consideration, that if you can take a free, let’s say, penalty or not and it will not be counted.

“And besides that, I think the teams should not be allowed to have a say in these kind of things. Because for sure they’re going to vote against that.

“Personally, I do think it’s very harsh on Carlos, but in this political environment that we are in, of course every team thinks about themselves and they are going to say: 'No, he has to take the penalty'."