F1 should prevent Doohan-like DRS crashes – Sainz

Apr.6 (GMM) New Grand Prix Drivers’ Association director Carlos Sainz is calling for changes to the DRS systems in Formula 1 in the name of safety.

Alpine’s Jack Doohan admits he deliberately left his DRS rear-wing flap wide open as he sped flat-out at 300kph into turn 1 at Suzuka in practice – result in an almighty crash.

“Honestly, after trying to do that, I just want to leave it in the past and move on,” said the bruised rookie Australian.

According to Sainz, however, the way DRS works in Formula 1 should not give the drivers the freedom to leave the flap open into treacherous corners like that.

“In any other era of Formula 1, Jack would not have been able to get back behind the wheel the next day after an accident like that,” said the Spaniard.

“If we are going to make cars as fast as they are now, we need to improve on safety as well. Because you can also do what Jack did in Shanghai at turn 1 or turn 9 in Australia.

“We have too many corners like this where the driver has to close the DRS himself. Hopefully this accident shows that there is a need to have a system that switches off the DRS 50 or 100 metres before the braking zone so that the driver doesn’t have a chance to make a mistake,” Sainz added.

Meanwhile, Sainz freely admits that he is still adapting to his new cockpit, having been forced out of Ferrari by Lewis Hamilton.

“I’m still driving the car like a Williams should be driven, rather than how I’d like to drive a Formula 1 car,” the 30-year-old insists.

Team boss James Vowles admits: “We have realised that Carlos has a very specific driving style from Ferrari.

“I can assure you that there is no difference between the cars of the two Williams drivers,” he added. “And I very much doubt that Carlos will need more than five races to fully adapt to our car.”