Carlos Sainz refutes Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton complaints as he pulls back the curtain on FIA pre-race warning

Carlos Sainz has pushed back on Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen's claims that the race should have been started earlier, as he revealed that the governing body had intimated to the drivers and the teams early in the week that they would be conservative in their approach. The race in Spa and its conservative handling drew a lot of flak from the fans and a few drivers as well.

A pre-race shower meant that the start was delayed as the spray was too much. After a second forecasted shower passed, the FIA would give the green light to start the race. What did, however, irk some of the drivers, including Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, who were the most vocal, was the fact that the safety car continued to be on the track for multiple laps even though one could see the dry spots on the track already.

Carlos Sainz, however, reveals that the ultra-conservative approach was something that the FIA had informed all the teams about. Spa is a track that has had a few too many incidents in the rain, and that does mean safety is something you cannot ignore.

Talking to the media, including Sportskeeda, he said,

"I always thought Formula 1 should almost like, if possible, innovate and try something different. And I think there's certain kind of tarmacs that if you would put them [the cars] on a straight line, there would be no spray, and they exist. But most circuits don't have it. In the end, the biggest problem for us is visibility, it's what keeps us from racing."

He added,

"I think Spa is a very particular case where there's been a very dark past at this track, and the FIA consciously took a very conservative approach, and they warned us on Thursday that they would take a very conservative approach."

Maybe Formula 1 could communicate this to the fans in a better way: Carlos Sainz

The way the race was handled raised a lot of questions. Carlos Sainz's former teammate, Max Verstappen, was also one of the more vocal drivers who lamented that such a conservative approach kills the classic wet weather racing aspect of F1.

Carlos Sainz felt that this was something that could have been avoided if F1 had communicated the detail to the fans. He said,

"Maybe we should have done a better job in communicating that, or they should have communicated to the fans, to the world, we're going to play it very easy because of its dark past, and this is what happened in the past and why we're going to play it safe on Sunday. Just for everyone, maybe to have a bit more awareness."

The driver himself didn't have the best race in Spa, as his gamble of a high downforce car hurt him. However, the driver was still understanding of the call from the FIA and, even immediately after the race, was one of the defenders.

Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli