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The FIA will be more harsh on incidents involving drivers moving under braking following discussions on Romain Grosjean’s defensive moves in last Sunday’s British Grand Prix, according to McLaren driver Carlos Sainz.
Grosjean was given the black-and-white warning flag for moving over on Sainz on the approach to Stowe corner during the race, with the stewards issuing a formal warning to the Haas driver after the race for a similar manoeuvre in battle with Ricciardo on the run to Brooklands.
FIA race director Michael Masi confirmed last week that the matter would be discussed in the drivers’ briefing that takes place after FP2 on each weekend.
Sainz said that Masi took a proactive approach to the discussion and he expects similar incidents to be treated more harshly in the future.
“I’m pretty much happy with the outcome,” he said when asked by The Race about the the discussions in the drivers’ briefing. “I think all drivers admitted that is probably one of the most dangerous situations that there is for a racing driver.
“That kind of moment can cause one of the biggest accidents that we can see in racing, in Formula 1, because of the approaching speeds that we have nowadays with DRS, 30kph plus faster than the car in front.
“We addressed it, Michael [Masi] was very proactive on being probably a bit more harsh in those kind of situations and I think we all agreed to it.
“There’s also that kind of gentlemen agreement between us, between all 20 drivers, that we know that kind of move puts the car behind and yourself in a very risky position.”
Asked to clarify if he expected a repeat of moves like Grosjean would result in a time penalty rather than the warnings the Haas driver received, Sainz suggested this would be the case.
“Every situation will be judged but in the same kind of scenario I think with exactly the same moves he would have got the penalty with the new kind of agreement,” said Sainz.
Grosjean said after the race last week that, while not keen on that kind of defensive move, he felt it was legitimate to use the tactic given drivers such as Max Verstappen have got away with it in the past.
He said that no explicit rules had been put in place when such moves were discussed in the past and that leaving a car’s width meant the moves were legitimate. But he also said that he would be happy not to use such tactics were there to be a clarification saying they were no longer allowed.
Asked about the moves on Thursday ahead of the second Silverstone race, the GPDA chairman said that he was trying to stay within the rules and conceded he moved too late in battle with Ricciardo.
But Grosjean did add that he was surprised at Sainz complaining over the radio given the margin that was left.
“I was defending as hard as I could, that’s my job,” said Grosjean.
“I was trying to stay within the limits. Two times actually the moves were not on the braking, they were still on the straight line. So I guess we are getting into a different regulation.
“I had the chance to see the footage and I do agree on Daniel I moved too late. I was always going to leave the room for one car but obviously he doesn’t know that when I’m moving. But I moved too late and reacted to the right. And it was a bit too late.
“Carlos, he came on the radio and I don’t know really, it wasn’t wasn’t that bad and there was plenty of room and plenty of margin. It’s not every day that we are in the top five racing and I do my best for the team, the best for myself.”
