Total confusion
There was no peace for Carlos Sainz at the end of the 2023 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix. In fact, in the last stages of the Melbourne event, the Spaniard from Ferrari experienced an emotional rollercoaster of feelings. It all started with the decision made by the F1 stewards to wave the red flag three laps from the end of the race, when Kevin Magnussen crashed his Haas car into the wall. The race direction decided, to complete the last two remaining laps, a standing start which – predictably – unleashed the drivers’ ambitions generating total chaos on the track.
Great comeback
Carlos Sainz was fourth at the time. A position that he gained following a splendid comeback after the first red flag of the day – due to Alex Albon’s accident at the start of the race – had already penalized him in terms of strategies. In fact, Carlos Sainz had just made a pit stop under the Safety Car, just like George Russell, thus slipping from fourth to 11th. The second interruption, on the other hand, seemed to be able to help the Spaniard from Ferrari, who suddenly found himself battling with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso for a place on the podium. At the third ‘start’ of the day, however, the #55 things didn’t work out for the Spanish driver, who forced the brakes in turn 1 and collided with Fernando Alonso.
The incident with Fernando Alonso
Yet another red flag, generated by the chaos following this accident, momentarily seemed to give Carlos Sainz a place on the last step of the podium. However, the joy lasted only a few minutes. In fact, the F1 stewards’ decision was first to restore the ranking to before the last red flag, given that not even one lap had been completed after the restart; at the same time, Carlos Sainz was penalized by five seconds for the incident with Fernando Alonso. The Ferrari driver, therefore, repositioned in fourth place behind the Aston Martin for the final lap behind the Safety Car and dropped down to 12th place in the order of arrival, outside the points.
Red fury
Carlos Sainz did not hide his anger in any way, first via radio, just before he set off towards the finish line, and then in front of the microphones of Sky Sport F1, at the end of the race. “Do I really deserve to finish out of the points? – Carlos Sainz pleaded speaking via radio with his track engineer Riccardo Adami – they must wait for the end of the race to discuss it with me. It is clear that the penalty is not deserved. Please please please tell them to wait to talk to me.”
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Later, on Sky, the Spaniard tried not to share his frustration and disappointment: “It’s too unfair and I don’t feel well to speak. I just needed to come to the TV pen because if I didn’t come, they’d give me another penalty. Sorry, I prefer not to talk. I’ll come back later after going to the stewards. I prefer not to talk right now. I’m too disappointed. I’m gonna say bad things. It is the most unfair penalty in my life. So I prefer to have a conversation with the stewards and then come back and talk to you guys because now I can do it.” – he said.
