Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz has pointed out that he was penalised for ‘saving someone’s life’ in today’s Dutch Grand Prix at the Circuit Zandvoort. the Spaniard endured a difficult race with several problems, including two moments during pit stops.
Carlos Sainz was running in third place after the race start, but dropped down the pecking order after the Italian side’s mechanics were not ready for his first pitstop as a result of a late decision to call him in, a situation that team principal Mattia Binotto described as “a mess”.
At a later stop during the safety car period caused by Valtteri Bottas stopping on track, Carlos Sainz was released into the path of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso as he was trying to negotiate the tight Zandvoort pit lane.
When showed the images whilst behind the wheel, Carlos Sainz pleaded his innocence and labelled any forthcoming penalty as “a joke”.
“We ran into all sorts of trouble in the race and we need to analyse why because it cost us a lot of points,” said Carlos Sainz after the Dutch Grand Prix.
The Spanish driver explained why he believes his release was not worthy of a penalty: “I saw it in the car, by the time they released me it was clearly safe with Fernando but then I had to hit the brakes to not hit McLaren mechanic who ran in my exit line. It was this braking that generated the unsafe release – if you can call it unsafe because I was clearly frustrated by it. I thought I had saved someone’s life and not generated a dangerous situation.”
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Fernando Alonso has long been seen as one of the savviest drivers when it comes to handling the FIA. Suggesting his compatriot had overplayed the moment in order to determine race control to give him a penalty, Carlos Sainz added:
“He hit me because I had to brake because I had a McLaren mechanic in my way. You need to analyse every situation and by the time I was released by the mechanics, he was pretty far behind. The problem was this McLaren mechanic with a jack that ran into my driving line, I had to brake and I didn’t get my pit exit right. Is it my fault? Is it my team’s fault? No. Some guy with a jack at McLaren who ran into my driving line, I had to hit my brakes and I am sure Fernando also exaggerated a bit, hitting me to try and get me a penalty.” – Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz concluded.
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