F1 News: Carlos Sainz Blames "Politics" After Serious Las Vegas GP Problem Repeats In Bahrain

Carlos Sainz was upset that the rules haven't been changed in F1 to ensure drivers don't suffer penalties for no fault of theirs.

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, who was the victim of a ten-spot grid penalty in Las Vegas last year when his car hit a loose drain cover at high speed, stated that a repeat of the same problem on days two and three of pre-season testing in Bahrain highlights "political things" going on in the background of the sport that prevents unfair penalties. 

Key Takeaways:

• Ferrari's Carlos Sainz expressed frustration at recurring issues with loose drain covers during Bahrain pre-season testing, citing persistent obstacles to necessary rule changes.
• Despite suffering an unfair penalty in Las Vegas last year, Sainz noted that no regulations have been amended, raising concerns about fairness in Formula 1 penalties.
• Bahrain testing saw similar incidents damaging Leclerc's Ferrari and Perez's Red Bull, prompting calls for rule changes from Sainz and more rigorous track checks by Max Verstappen to ensure safety and prevent car damage.

Despite several months passing since his incident at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, where Carlos Sainz received a penalty for an incident that was not his fault, the Ferrari driver highlighted that no changes have been implemented to the regulations.

What is worse is that Ferrari still awaits compensation for the heavy damage done to the SF-23's floor and other key power unit components. Sadly though, similar incidents resurfaced in Bahrain during the test on Thursday and Friday.

Charles Leclerc's Ferrari SF-24's floor was damaged in the process on day two of testing, and on day three, it was the turn of Sergio Perez's RB20. It is important to point out that on both occasions, the same drain cover was dislodged. 

Fortunately, the incidents in Bahrain weren't as severe as the one witnessed in Nevada last year. However, that isn't enough to justify them in the first place. What is justified though, is Sainz's frustration, who stated his thoughts to the media. He said:

“Looks like the regulations have not changed.

“These things will keep happening and people will keep getting unfair penalties.

“After what happened in Vegas, it should be a must to change [the rule]. Like always, one team cannot agree with the other and there’s always political things and things going on when F1 teams don’t agree.”

Max Verstappen Calls For Stringent Checks

With the first Grand Prix set to take place at the same location next weekend, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has called for more stringent checks of the tracks ahead of race weekends. He added:

“With the ground effect cars, for me, it’s a little bit worse.

“But it also seems like we’re driving in places that not a lot of other cars are going in terms of opening up corners and stuff. But maybe these kinds of things can be checked a bit more.

“We know that this is a potential problem with these cars and when you go to certain tracks, you know where the drain covers are so I guess before you start driving in the weekend, to double check that everything is solid I think it is a must for the upcoming tracks.

“We don’t [want to] have another situation where cars get destroyed and especially with the budget cap in place as well. It’s not nice when these things happen.”

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