Zak Brown, the chief executive officer of McLaren, has backed Carlos Sainz’s proposal to impose fines on drivers who cause red flags during F1 qualifying sessions and obstruct other people’s laps.
After Sergio Perez’s crash in the Monaco Q3 and Max Verstappen’s refusal to give his teammate a place in the Brazilian .
Grand Prix despite being told to do so by Red Bull, the issue came back into the spotlight.
Sainz, whose Ferrari was damaged when he hit Perez’s Red Bull in Monaco, said on Thursday that drivers want penalties for disrupting rivals’ final runs by concluding sessions early.
Brown brought the issue up at the F1 Commission meeting in Abu Dhabi, and everyone there agreed that it should be discussed at the Sporting Advisory Committee of the FIA, which is the group that helps make the rules.
When asked about the situation by Motorsport.com, he stated, “I think what Carlos said, I think it should be red flags or yellow flags, for effectively impeding a driver from completing their lap.”
If my memory serves me correctly, I believe that your fastest lap is eliminated in Formula E.We can therefore put that into action.
Notwithstanding, Aston Martin’s Mike Krack proposed that it would be difficult to police, adding: “I don’t have a clear-cut perspective on this.
In the beginning of this year, the rules for the new era of fuel-powered, fully sustainable Formula One vehicles were published, and potential applicants were initially given until October 15 to sign up.
While Audi, a newcomer, was the first to do so, many of the existing manufacturers stalled on the plan, which led to an agreement to extend the deadline—which was originally set for November 15 but was later extended even further.
The F1 2026 engine manufacturers must comply with a new power unit cost cap that takes effect on January 1, 2023,.
so the situation cannot continue for much longer.
Ben Sulayem believes that there is nothing major to be concerned about despite the delay in bringing everyone on board. There has been concern that some of F1’s current competitors may decide to withdraw from the sport.
He claims that the most recent delays were solely caused by teams needing to obtain legal clarification on specific wordings before they could commit, despite the fact that more significant rules-related issues had been resolved.
When asked about the delays, he stated, “There was a bit of an issue when it came to the compression ratio and the boost pressure, but this was sorted by the teams.”
“We just continued to talk about those points as much as we could.And when we reach a point in our discussions where we believe we are all in a strong position, we either sign or are going to sign.I think it will happen soon.
The CEO of Red Bull, Christian Horner, added:The deadlines were extended, but there has been a lot of talk about governance, cleaning up some technical regulations, and, of course, financial regulations.
Therefore, Red Bull Powertrains has joined as a newcomer for 2026.It’s an exciting time for the group and the business, with a new challenge to face and a lot to accomplish between now and 2026.”