Before the Italian GP, Carlos Sainz was the highest driver in the championship without a podium in 2023. After a stellar qualifying performance in Monza that put him on pole for Sunday’s race in front of Ferrari’s very own Tifosi, he was looking to clear his name off that record. Although a race win might’ve seemed out of reach—with a record-chasing Max Verstappen behind him—the Spaniard put up a valiant fight for P1 for as long as he could. But after a “naughty” move—as Verstappen called it—and a few defensive masterclasses, Sainz finally had to relinquish the lead, only to be chased by another charging Bull—Sergio Perez.

In the battle between the Mexican and Spanish Ministers of Defense, Perez’s RB19—unfortunately for Sainz—came out on top, but it wasn’t without a few questionable moves from Sainz. Needless to say, the Ferrari driver’s first appearance on the Max Verstappen Podcast, aka the cool-down room, wasn’t without controversy.

Carlos Sainz stuck to his guns after Sergio Perez unleashed a Spanish scolding

If there’s one move every driver knows not to attempt during a race, it’s moving under braking. As per Motorsport.com, this refers to “any change of direction under braking which results in another driver having to take evasive action will be considered abnormal and hence potentially dangerous to other drivers.” Simply put, this applies when a driver is on the verge of being overtaken by another car going into a corner. In such situations, the leading driver cannot change the direction of their car once they’ve started braking for the corner. This is precisely what Perez accused Sainz of doing.

Until Lap 32 of 51, Sainz was chased by his teammate Charles Leclerc. Once Perez overtook Leclerc on that lap, Sainz knew he had to unleash the same beast that kept Verstappen at bay for 14 laps at the start of the race. While he managed to do that for more than 10 laps, their incident on Lap 43 caused an argument between them. Along the main straight, Perez—with DRS—was right on Sainz’s heels. Perez moved to the right to attempt the overtake, but Sainz made the same move before the braking point, blocking Perez. Three laps later, the Mexican finally overtook Sainz for P2, and the Ferrari driver crossed the line in P3. 

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In the cool-down room, Perez asked, “You were moving late, right?” to which Sainz replied, “I was moving late but on time, Checo! I moved a little bit…But not in the braking point. The rule says in the braking point. You know?” Perez agreed, but Sainz continued, “It doesn’t say before. I moved before the braking point, and then I braked.” 

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Even though Sainz didn’t do anything wrong, Perez might not entirely agree with him. While this might always be up for question between them, there’s something else they agreed on later.

Sainz, Perez, and Verstappen gave their verdict on a contested topic

The FIA banned the use of multiple engine modes for qualifying and races in 2020 to restrict Mercedes’ qualifying advantage. Much like that, it’s become evident this season that Red Bull’s DRS advantage is unmatchable. Since the ground-effect regulations of 2022, DRS has become more powerful, allowing easier overtakes. In light of this, an argument about the necessity of DRS has been brought up and whether its effect should be reduced. When this question was posed to the top three finishers of the Italian GP, they gave their two cents.

Verstappen said, “No, I think in most tracks, we still struggled to follow or pass.” Agreeing with him, Perez added, I think definitely less DRS is not the way forward. If anything, we needed the DRS more in some places to be able to have better racing.” Sainz agreed with them and said, “In 99% of the tracks, I think we’re going to need DRS. We’re going to need a powerful DRS because these cars from the beginning of the year, like Max said, it’s starting to become a bit like 2021 or 2020 where it’s difficult to follow.”

What did you think about Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez’s argument? Who was in the wrong? Do you feel F1 should reduce the effect of DRS?

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