Carlos Sainz pinpoints solution that would have solved Verstappen-Hamilton incident. Carlos pinpoints solution that would have solved Verstappen-Hamilton incident.

In last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Max Verstappen tried everything possible in order to defend his position against a faster Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton as the pair continued its hard-fought 2021 Formula 1 title battle, which is set to go down to the wire, but in the end he had to settle for second place.

On Lap 48, Max Verstappen pushed Hamilton off the track at Turn 4 as the Briton attempted a pass around the outside. The pair both took to the painted run-off area before re-joining the track at speed.

The incident was noted by race control but not investigated, a non-call which sparked controversy as similar incidents were previously punished with a five-second penalty, most notably Lando Norris’ defensive move on Sergio Perez in Austria.

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Mercedes has since called for a review of the incident now that the onboard footage from Verstappen’s car has been released.

Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz, who also used the Turn 4 run-off area on a scrappy first lap, says the whole ordeal could have been avoided by installing gravel traps instead of Interlagos’ tarmac run-offs.

“I personally think that this issue would be solved with a gravel trap on the exit of Turn 4. I think you also saw at the start today a few cars – including ourselves – going wide in Turn 4. If there had been a gravel trap, we wouldn’t have gone there. And instead of actually it being an issue for the stewards, if you put a gravel trap there, it wouldn’t be an issue for the stewards, for Michael [Masi, FIA race director], for Lewis, for Max or for us.” – the Ferrari driver explained.

Carlos Sainz’ call for gravel is part of a recurring theme over the past years as Formula 1 has struggled to police track limits in a consistent manner. The Spaniard hopes that modifications can be made to Interlagos, particularly since the track doesn’t have to accommodate MotoGP bikes.

“We keep asking for gravel traps,” he added. “And we hope that in the future, especially at a track like Sao Paulo, where MotoGP is not running, we would like to see gravel traps back because we would never brake so late into Turn 4.” – he concluded.