Charles Leclerc wants Formula 1 chiefs to come up with an alternative for visor tear-offs after his Belgian Grand Prix was ruined by a stray piece of plastic from Max Verstappen's helmet.
The Monegasque started one place behind his rival at Spa-Francorchamps as both took a grid penalty for extra engine components. But while the Red Bull star raced to the front to win, Leclerc's own progress was hampered early on.
A tear-off from Verstappen's visor happened to get stuck in his brake duct, forcing him to pit early and ruining his race strategy. It was an unfortunate incident, but not one that we haven't seen before.
Tear-offs are vital for drivers' ability to be able to see after things get stuck to their visors. Loose bits of gravel and car debris are common offenders, while Sunday's race saw fluids from Lewis Hamilton's car fly into the air after his collision with Fernando Alonso.
As important as tear-offs are, Leclerc wants F1 bosses to tweak the rules so the small pieces of plastic are not flying through the air and cannot damage another driver's car. "I think maybe moving forward, it will be good that we maybe find a solution to keep the tear off inside the car," he told Autosport.
"In this particular situation, I think somebody was losing oil or something. I could not see anything with my visor, and all the drivers in front of me couldn't see anything in their visors. So it happened that, at the first moment of opportunity, we had to take off the tear-off, and it was on this straight.
"I found myself with tear-offs flying all over the place and in that case, you cannot do much as a driver. I mean, obviously, I'm not angry at all with Max, and it is obviously not the fault of the drivers, but we might look at something to find a way to keep the tear-offs somewhere in the car."
The FIA's international sporting code does contain language which makes it clear that "any tear-offs attached to visors may not be thrown unnecessarily onto the track or the pit lane". But it is one of those rules which, generally, has not been enforced.
Asked if he feels organisers could use this rule to clamp down on the issue, Leclerc added: "I guess there were reasons this rule was scrapped off, which I'm not aware of these reasons. But maybe there are other solutions."
