Carlos Sainz suggests one-off reverse grid race to satisfy curiosity

McLaren

Sainz suggests one-off reverse grid race to satisfy curiosity

Ross Brawn is hoping to introduce the format at four 2021 grands prix

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Thursday 24 September 2020 18:31

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McLaren driver Carlos Sainz has suggested holding a one-off trial of a reverse-grid race in Formula 1 as he is "curious" to see the outcome.

F1's managing director motorsports Ross Brawn had hoped to introduce the idea at a handful of races this year, only to be met with resistance from Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff.

The recent Italian Grand Prix, however, again reignited the debate for Brawn, who is now proposing a 30-minute sprint race to replace qualifying at four grands prix next season.

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The grid for that race would be based on the order in the drivers' championship at the time, and with its outcome forming the grid for the main race on Sunday

While the majority of the drivers are against the idea of reverse-grid races, even for qualifying, McLaren driver Sainz said: "I am in two minds, actually. I am undecided.

"I am a bit curious to know what would happen in F1 with reverse-grid races. I have the curiosity to potentially try it one day to see how it goes and see how it spices up things and what happens with Formula 1 in general when you introduce that format.

"If you have the example of the Monza race where I was catching Pierre [Gasly], the midfield was actually leading the race, it got a lot of excitement and it got a lot of followers just by how exciting it was.

"The race I had against Pierre, Lando [Norris] and Lance [Stroll], it is how every weekend is, weekend in, weekend out. We are always battling, overtaking each other.

"We always have those small margins. It is just that in Monza it got noticed because we were fighting for a race win and everyone loved it."

On the flipside, Sainz added: "It makes me think that at the same time we don't need to change anything.

"We just need to make the other teams come closer and have races as we had in Monza, which is the way I have been racing for the last five years in Formula 1, [with] these crazy midfield battles where there is overtaking going on until the last lap and strategies going on."

Sainz believes the current qualifying format would tie-in well with the new regulations due to be introduced in 2022, although he also feels there would be no harm in trying a one-off reverse-grid race to make a more educated decision.

"It makes me think the current format with closer racing and closer car performance would be perfectly okay, potentially in 2022," said Sainz.

"If we manage to get the field closer we will have loads of Monza races, with Lewis [Hamilton] Valtteri [Bottas], Ferrari, hopefully, and McLaren and company.

"But at the same time, I am like 'Why not try once and see what happens'."

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