Carlos Sainz shares F1 calendar wish: ‘We should all race in F3 at Macau!’

Carlos Sainz was asked for what he would like to change in F1, and his request was for the drivers to all race around the legendary Guia Circuit in Macau in F3 cars once a year.

The Macau Grand Prix was a blue riband event in the Formula 3 schedule until recently, now operating on the Chinese F4 calendar, with the likes of Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna, Riccardo Patrese, David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher and Takuma Sato among its previous winners.

Sainz entered the Macau Grand Prix twice in his junior career, with a best finish of seventh, and he said he would enjoy the chance to see all 20 current F1 drivers head around the unique Guia Circuit layout annually.

Carlos Sainz: F1 drivers should race F3 cars at Macau once a year

With the demands of the Formula 1 calendar growing ever greater on the drivers, Sainz was asked for what one rule he would change about F1 in its state – with a serious or funny answer permitted.

While he couldn’t give a concrete rule change, a calendar switch was on his mind.

“This is a difficult one,” Sainz toldP1 with Matt and Tommy.

“I’m sure there’s one, but I think once a year, we should all go to Macau and race in F3, [have] 20 F1 drivers over there.”

When asked how close the drivers would be if they were to run at a circuit like Macau, Sainz thinks the uniqueness of that track could lead to a slightly wider gap between the current field.

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But if they were all to run the same cars at a standard track that Formula 1 visits, the Spaniard believes there would not be much in it between all 20 drivers at all.

“I think in Macau it’s different. Macau could be more differences [between drivers],” Sainz explained, “[but at a] normal track, if we all go tomorrow to Barcelona, let’s say, and we do a qualifying lap, normal dry conditions, six sets of new soft like we always have?

“I don’t think there’s more than half a second between us – and that’s one given day.

“We go next weekend to Silverstone and the guy that is half a second off and qualified P20 in Barcelona might be P3, P4 because he’s had a much better day and might be towards the top of the field, and another one might have a bad day and be half a second off, but not more than half a second, six tenths maximum.”

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