Sainz proposes bold qualifying red flag penalty
The Williams driver wants a three-place grid drop for anyone who causes a red flag in qualifying, and he's also told his management to give him peace until the summer break.
Carlos Sainz has a bold idea that could change F1 qualifying forever. The Williams driver and GPDA director wants to introduce a qualifying red flag grid penalty of three places for any driver who causes a red flag or yellow flag stoppage during qualifying. It is a proposal that is already getting people talking.
Sainz’s qualifying red flag grid penalty idea explained
Asked about Verstappen’s crash and the reaction to it, Sainz shared that he is planning to propose a new red flag rule to his fellow drivers. “I have a very personal idea about this that hasn’t been discussed among the GPDA yet, which I will potentially bring forward as an idea,” Sainz explained.
So what is his idea exactly? Sainz said: “I think that anyone who generates a yellow flag or a red flag in qualifying, it should be three place grid drop. So at least you get penalised for it, and you get disincentivised to go flat out into something.”
Sainz even admitted that the thought of crashing on purpose had crossed his own mind in the past. He pointed to his time in Baku last year, when he was on pole and was the first car out of the pits. “I said ‘if I crash now I’m on pole’,” Sainz admitted. “We all have these thoughts.”
This qualifying red flag grid penalty idea is a direct response to incidents like Verstappen’s crash at the Austrian GP, where the way George Russell handled the situation was “perfect for what the rulebook allows you to do” and “he deserved that pole position.” But Sainz argued “he should have never been allowed to finish that lap.” You can read more about the chaos that weekend in our Austrian GP reactions piece.
Verstappen himself agrees something needs to change. He said that when someone causes a yellow or red flag in qualifying deliberately, “it should be an even bigger penalty” than Sainz’s proposal. Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has also pushed for tougher flag enforcement, as we covered in our piece on Vasseur’s yellow flag warning.
How the qualifying red flag grid penalty could work in practice
The idea is simple. If a driver causes a session-stopping moment in qualifying, they lose three grid places. That creates a real risk for anyone tempted to park their car at a clever spot on the circuit. Right now, the rules can actually reward a driver who crashes at the right time, because other competitors lose their best laps. A qualifying red flag grid penalty would fix that loophole directly.
Sainz summed it up clearly: “I think we should find a solution for that, and that’s my only idea, that if you generate a yellow or a red you should get some kind of penalty.”
The proposal still needs to go through a proper GPDA discussion before it reaches the FIA for consideration. Sainz noted that because of the sprint format this weekend, a proper drivers’ meeting may not happen, but he believes one should take place.
Sainz’s Williams future: “leave me alone until summer”
Away from the rulebook debate, Sainz is also dealing with questions about his own future. The Williams driver is out of contract with the Grove team at the end of 2026 but admits he will “not really” consider where his F1 future lies until the championship’s summer break.
He told media: “I’ve also told my team to leave me a bit on my own until the summer break, just to try and help Williams and improve the situation as much as possible. And then in the summer break, it will obviously be time to think about it, look at the options.”
Williams has started the 2026 campaign on the back foot with an overweight, uncompetitive car, sparking questions in the paddock about whether Sainz will elect to stay with the team or look elsewhere. Multiple sources have indicated that Sainz is eyeing a potential move to the Audi F1 team, which he rejected in order to join Williams two years ago. We looked at the Williams upgrade push in our earlier piece on the radical Baku upgrade the team has planned.
The performance that the coming programme of upgrades unlocks at Williams will be a key factor in any decision Sainz makes on his future. For now, though, the Spaniard is focused on the track, and on making F1 qualifying fairer for everyone.
