Carlos Sainz Jr. believes it is the duty of Formula 1’s owners, Liberty Media, to find a way to ensure “at least half the field” can consistently compete for podium finishes.
So far in 2017, just four teams have registered podium finishes with Scuderia Ferrari, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team and Red Bull Racing scoring all but one of them; Lance Stroll‘s shock third place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix being a rare example of a driver scoring a podium outside of the top three teams.
Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Sainz, has voiced concerns earlier this season regarding the gap between the mid-field at the top runners and now believes correcting that should be one of Liberty Media’s main priorities.
“I believe in equality, a lot more equality,” Sainz told Autosport.
“I believe Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, they need to keep winning the championship. But I believe it should be a bit more exciting.
“It should include at least half of the field in a possible, potential podium battle.
“At the moment it’s not happening. There’s no chance. None of the midfield teams can do a podium under normal circumstances.”
Sainz has yet to do better than sixth place in his three seasons with Toro Rosso – themselves a team who have scored just one podium, albeit a win, in twelve years of competition – and has recently signed to drive for the Renault Sport F1 Team for 2018.
“I believe if you do a perfect weekend, like for example I did in Monaco [where Sainz finished sixth], I should have a chance of scoring a podium, if I’ve done everything perfect.
“[Romain] Grosjean in Austria did a very good weekend [for Haas] and still finished P6. I believe there should be a bit more opportunities to shine for the midfield teams that at the moment we don’t have.”
Asked whether the field could be bunched up using a budget cap, Sainz said: “I don’t know. I don’t understand about politics so I’m not going to include myself in this discussion.
“But I believe they need to find something, a solution, to bring lap times closer between all 10 teams.”
