Carlos Sainz has appealed to leading Formula 1 drivers to exercise greater patience and understanding toward backmarkers who are caught in tricky situations when dealing with blue flags during races.
When a car is being lapped, marshals show a blue flag requiring them to clear the path within three marshal posts or face potential penalties for ignoring the directive. However, front-running drivers frequently air their frustrations over team radio complaining that slower cars take too long to yield, a sentiment echoed by Kimi Antonelli during his dominant lights-to-flag victory.
Sainz brings unique firsthand perspective to the discussion, having spent years fighting at the sharp end with Ferrari before moving to the other side of the equation with his current outfit. He emphasized that executing a clean pass is far more complicated than it appears from the cockpit of a leading contender.
"We're doing the best we can," Sainz told media regarding the blue flag scrutiny. "The problem is there's such a big speed difference from the top cars to us. It's up to three or four seconds, so the moment you calculate to let them by, maybe they've caught you up quicker than you expected, or vice versa."
Drawing from his extensive career history, the veteran driver elaborated on the stark contrast between leading a grand prix and being lapped. "To the top guys, I've been in both positions, lapping a lot of people in my Ferrari days. I'm being lapped now, and I can tell you, it's not easy for the ones having to let people by, so bear with us because it's not like as straightforward as it looks when you're leading," he stated.
Looking ahead to upcoming rounds on the calendar, Sainz remains hopeful that his squad can pull off another strong performance in what has proven to be a challenging campaign. He admitted that securing championship points currently requires extraordinary efforts, though he anticipates the Mexican venue will offer a closer battle within the midfield pack compared to the prospective challenges in Las Vegas.
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