Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff has revealed that he is in favour of a lap deletion rule for drivers who cause red flags during qualifying.
Wolff thinks that this would solve all problems as often questions are raised if a crash happened deliberately or not.
This comes after Charles Leclerc’s crash at the Monaco Grand Prix despite him being the pole-sitter.
Leclerc had managed to earn the pole position. However, a crash that happened in Q3 set the red flags waving which ironically secured it.
Monaco famous for notorious incidents
While there is no proof that Leclerc’s stunt was intentional, Monaco has been witness to others who were not so pure in their intentions.
Back in 2006, Michael Schumacher ‘parked’ his vehicle at Rascasse. That action sent him to the back of the grid.
On the other hand, back in 2014, Nico Rosberg went down the Mirabeau escape road which did not lead to any punishments.
While Wolff was in favour, both Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas were not okay with the idea of the rule being implemented. They reckoned that it would punish those who commit honest errors.
What did Wolff say?
Wolff said, “I didn’t know that that was the rule in the US but I think it’s an intelligent rule that would avoid confusion.
“By any means I don’t think that Charles put it in the wall [deliberately] today, because there’s just too much at stake.
“But it would be a nice little incentive to make sure that the polemic that such a situation provokes is out of question, is not happening because nobody would doubt it.”
After qualifying, Leclerc said that he was worried about the extent of the damage to his car as that would decide where he would line up before the race.
‘Only the driver truly knows’
Wolff thinks that gearbox damage would be avoided in Leclerc’s crash. He also believes that the consequences of the accident were a lot bigger than the risk that was involved in committing it.
“Like with all the incidents that we have seen in the past in Monaco, only the driver will ever know what exactly happened,” he said.
“In that case I doubt that Charles would make himself detonate in the rail which could cause even more damage to his car.”
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