{"id":16365,"date":"2023-10-08T11:47:40","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T15:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=16365"},"modified":"2023-10-08T11:47:40","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T15:47:40","slug":"carlos-sainz-calls-out-fia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2023\/10\/08\/carlos-sainz-calls-out-fia\/","title":{"rendered":"Carlos Sainz calls out FIA: &#8220;That is not good enough&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Carlos Sainz is unhappy with the lack of communication between drivers and the FIA amidst key decisions for the Qatar GP.<\/h3>\n<p>Carlos Sainz was a frustrated figure in Qatar upon the FIA&#8217;s changes to protect driver Safety. The Spaniard believes the lack of communication between F1&#8217;s governing body and its drivers must change.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2023\/10\/07\/qatar-gp-tyre-problems\/\" target=\"_self\">The FIA announced a sequence of precautions<\/a> ahead of the action on Saturday, following concerns about Pirelli&#8217;s tyres. Inspections after qualifying revealed the structural integrity of the tyres was worse than originally feared.<\/p>\n<p>Heading into this weekend, there were already question marks surrounding the Losail circuit. After all, its only previous F1 event in 2021 saw a variety of punctures &#8211; caused by the curves and track layout.<\/p>\n<p>At a track that was previously used to host MotoGP events, it soon became clear that adjustments were necessary. Despite optimism prior to Friday&#8217;s practice, a last-minute decision was taken to mitigate potential risks.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"05NTS8q6QlByP30ubwfLAg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1721171863\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'05NTS8q6QlByP30ubwfLAg',sig:'XQXmEpI8rnpVbwmbw8l0Jt78eAeZqievdAzQkTaIzvc=',w:'594px',h:'366px',items:'1721171863',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>This surprised much of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2023\/10\/07\/max-verstappen-becomes-a-three-times-world-champion\/\" target=\"_self\">F1 field,<\/a> including the drivers. A late meeting was held to discuss the FIA&#8217;s announcement, which was made before informing the field.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to the media, Carlos Sainz was unhappy with the lack of communication:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;We arrived here today in the morning, and we saw the news in the press,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/f1\/news\/sainz-frustrated-to-learn-of-pirellis-qatar-f1-issues-from-media\/10530182\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">motorsport.com<\/a> quotes him as saying.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Nobody informed us that there is going to be [alteraitons] to track limits, and nobody told us the tyres were delaminating. We have to learn things from the press, which is clearly not how things should be done.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As the GPDA [Grand Prix Drivers&#8217; Association], we are not happy with the situation&#8230; When safety is involved, then our input should be considered.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That is not good enough.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>Early signs of tyre trouble<\/h3>\n<p>This sentiment was not unique to the 29-year-old, with reports filtering from the paddock about anger throughout the field. Considering that changes were made to the circuit layout &#8211; which can impact the effectiveness of set-up and configurations &#8211; this is not surprising.<\/p>\n<p>With several teams such as McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari so evenly matched, seemingly small tweaks can make a huge difference.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, the Sprint Race seemed to validate the FIA&#8217;s concerns. Although there were no dramatic tyre blowouts or punctures, the soft tyres proved to have an exceptionally short life span.<\/p>\n<p>Even in a small sample size of just 19 laps &#8211; made even smaller by several Safety Cars &#8211; the softs struggled to maintain performance.<\/p>\n<p>Although this is not necessarily cause for alarm (with the mediums showing reasonable durability), it emphasized previous worries.<\/p>\n<h3>18-lap tyre limits for the Qatar GP<\/h3>\n<p><a id=\"bjuORfnZT25jaCjGbuTcxw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1709797971\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'bjuORfnZT25jaCjGbuTcxw',sig:'CAaX515cXEx52uqe79nYC4p_7YVxPbTqgb36iU61etM=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1709797971',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In theory, without the changes made ahead of the Sprint Shootout, the tyres would be even more vulnerable. So, from a safety perspective, adequate adjustments were made. Still, this does not invalidate the criticisms raised by Carlos Sainz.<\/p>\n<p>Drivers will not be pleased to hear critical decisions from F1 news outlets before the FIA itself. On the matter of safety, communication and clarity are paramount.<\/p>\n<p>There have also been further developments on tyres and safety this weekend. A maximum of 18-lap tyre stints will be permitted, forcing drivers to complete at least three pit stops this evening. Combined with the dust, wind and other variables in Qatar &#8211; today will be a great test.<\/p>\n<p>The Losail circuit continues to provide surprises and curveballs for teams to manage &#8211; and today is another example of this. With a few hours to prepare for the Grand Prix according to the FIA&#8217;s latest guidelines, strategy and pit-stop personnel must be at their very best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Carlos Sainz is unhappy with the lack of communication between drivers and the FIA amidst key decisions for the Qatar GP. Carlos Sainz was a frustrated figure in Qatar upon the FIA&#8217;s changes to protect driver Safety. The Spaniard believes the lack of communication between F1&#8217;s governing body and its drivers must change. The FIA [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":12004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2186,343,68,84,23,1529],"class_list":["post-16365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-2023-formula-1-season","tag-carlos-sainz","tag-f1","tag-ferrari","tag-formula-1","tag-qatar-gp"],"modified_by":"Vincent van der Hoek","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}