Verstappen and Perez demand grid box rule change

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have joined forces in calling upon the FIA to make a change to the grid box rule currently in place that has caught out Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon in the opening two races of the F1 season.

Ocon and Alonso were both handed five-second penalties in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia respectively for being marginally out of position in their grid slots ahead of the race starts.

Ironically in both instances, taking the initial penalty at their first pit stops resulted in additional 10-second penalties for further infringements.

In Ocon’s case, the second sanction was justified. With regard to Alonso, the decision was subsequently overturned by the stewards and led to him being reinstated into the third position he had taken at the chequered flag.

Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Perez both feel the punishment is harsh, in particular, as the drivers are taking pot luck over their positioning when they roll their cars into place due to the lack of visibility.

“It is painful when it happens but it’s a bit the same with the white line with track limits,” said reigning two-time F1 champion Verstappen.

“Sometimes you argue – did you gain anything going wide or not, going outside of it? I think at one point we do need a rule.

“It looks really silly if people start to take advantage of going really left and right but I don’t know what we can do better.

“The visibility is just really poor in the car, which I think is probably the main issue where you end up sometimes not fully, correctly in your box.”

Perez calls for better visibility idea

Team-mate Perez feels the drivers need assistance to prevent further incidents in the future, and penalties for what Mercedes driver George Russell has described as “senseless” rules.

“It’s really difficult to see where you’ve stopped,” said Perez, who has confirmed he stopped too early in his RB19 ahead of the race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

“But you have no idea when you are in the car. You don’t know if you are too far behind or too far forward.

“We need better visibility, to be able to come up with a better idea than we currently have.

“It’s good there is a rule in place, but at the same time, sometimes it’s like luck, to be honest, where you position yourself.”