Science: Those who cause red flags need to be penalized.

      Carlos Sainz serves as one of the directors of the GPDA association and, in this role, suggested implementing harsher penalties for drivers whose actions cause red flags during qualifying.

      When the Spanish Williams driver was asked to comment on the crash involving Max Verstappen on Saturday in Austria, which had certain repercussions and affected the qualifying results, he shared some rather unexpected thoughts:

      "I have an idea on this matter that hasn't been discussed at the GPDA level yet, and I will probably propose it. After which we can discuss whether we need to try to implement it or not. I believe that this weekend, due to the sprint being part of the schedule, we won't have time for this, but I think we should still do it.

      In any case, it is clear to me that in that situation in Austria, either double yellow flags should have been used or red flags should have been displayed. I think George Russell acted perfectly at that moment – in terms of what the rules allow. He deserved pole position, but under no circumstances should he have been allowed to complete the lap in such a dangerous situation.

      If Max had set the best time on his first attempt and then caused a crash that resulted in red flags, preventing anyone from improving their time, I think that would have been unfair to George, Kimi Antonelli, and everyone else. Because the one who took pole does not allow us to show better results...

      I think that anyone who causes yellow or red flags during qualifying should lose three positions on the grid... I believe Max was in third place at that moment, and it is clear that the cause of his crash was a rear wing failure or something similar. Still, I believe we need to find some solution for such situations, and I have no other ideas than to penalize those who caused the yellow or red flags. Even if it was unintentional.

      However, these topics can be debated... The stewards can't figure all this out unless there is a very smart former Formula 1 driver among them who knows how it all works. But I believe that some solution must be found."