Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz will receive an automatic 10-place grid penalty if he collects another two reprimands this year after receiving his third of the 2022 Formula 1 season in Monaco.
Carlos Sainz had an eventful day on Saturday during the third and final free practice session ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix on the streets of Monte Carlo, as he slowed down almost to a halt out of La Rascasse and held up Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. Due to this incident, the Maranello team was fined 25,000 for having given the Spaniard incorrect information over the team radio regarding his on track position, while Carlos Sainz was warned for driving unnecessarily slowly.
“It is unclear to the stewards why such misleading information was given to the driver, who was under the impression that there was no car immediately behind him,” explained the stewards – “Due to the poor rear visibility at that part of the circuit, the driver was relying entirely on the team’s messages. Notwithstanding the above, it was noted that the driver of Car 55 almost came to a stop on the circuit. This is unacceptable and hence the penalty of a reprimand is imposed. We note that similar behaviour by any driver during qualification may involve much more severe penalties.”
The Ferrari driver was later involved in a similar incident with Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin teammate, Sebastian Vettel: as the German driver approached Massenet, he encountered a very slow F1-75 car of the Spaniard, as the stewards once again pointed out that the Maranello team did not provide his driver with correct information.
“It is also noted that a similar situation occurred in relation to the incident involving Car 5 later in the session, where once again incorrect information was passed by the team to the driver, and again the driver of Car 55 was driving slower that can be considered reasonable in view of the location and circumstances,” the stewards added.
The Formula 1 sporting regulations state that any driver who accrues five reprimands during a single championship will be handed a 10-place grid penalty for that weekend’s event, or for the following round if resulting from a incident during a grand prix. Four of the five reprimands must be driving reprimands, handed out due to conduct on track, as opposed to non-driving reprimands received for incidents such as failing to attend pre-race national anthem ceremonies on time, among others.
The reprimand for Carlos puts him up to three for the season, which means that the 27-year-old is two reprimands and one driving reprimand away from a more severe punishment from the stewards.
“Any driver who receives five (5) reprimands in the same Championship will, upon the imposition of the fifth, be given a ten (10) grid place penalty for the race at that Event,” reads the regulation. If the fifth reprimand is imposed following an Incident during a race the ten (10) grid place penalty will be applied at the driver’s next Event. The ten (10) grid place penalty will only be imposed if at least four (4) of the reprimands were imposed for a driving infringement.”
Carlos Sainz started the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix from second place on the grid, behind his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc and ended the race in P2, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez taking the win a chaotic race in Monte Carlo.
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