The Las Vegas GP started in the worst possible way for Scuderia Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard collided with a poorly sealed manhole in the early minutes of the first free practice session at the las Vegas Strip Circuit, causing significant damage to the chassis, engine, and battery of his SF-23 single-seater.
The first free practice session was canceled and the almost destroyed Ferrari car was brought back to the pits. Speaking to the media, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur was rightfully furious about the situation, as there are millions of euros in damages for the Scuderia that will impact the budget cap, without any direct fault of the Spaniard.
To avoid worsening the situation, some representatives went to the stewards, asking to avoid a penalty for the battery replacement. However, the commissioners had to strictly apply the regulations and showed no leniency to car number 55, despite their reservations outlined in the document. As always, words have little impact, and shortly after, the official announcement came: Carlos Sainz will incur a 10-place grid penalty for using the third energy storage. This is unfortunate, considering how competitive the Red car is under the lights of the American city.
Despite the fact that they admitted the Italian side could not have done anything differently, the race stewards explained in the official press release that that they had to enforce “the regulations as they are written”, and thus punish Sainz.
The statement continued: “Accordingly, the mandatory penalty specified under Article 28.3 of the Sporting Regulations must be applied.
“The Stewards note that if they had the authority to grant a derogation in what they consider in this case to be mitigating, unusual and unfortunate circumstances, they would have done so, however the regulations do not allow such action.”
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
Friday practice continued in front of empty stands with spectators sent home after FP2 was delayed.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown was one of those who said he was not expecting the Ferrari man to be penalised. “Yeah for sure [we were surprised by the grid penalty]. That’s force majeure, nothing of their own doing and a very unique incident. I was surprised to see it and I think we need to be a bit more sporting over something like that. I was surprised to see a penalty.
“It’s unfortunate but we know with F1 there’s a lot of self-interest sometimes. I don’t know who it was, maybe someone running in competition with them. But it’s a little unfair.”
Speaking on Sky Sports, former Formula 1 driver and current F1 expert analyst Karun Chandhok described the punishment for a repairs caused by the circuit as “ridiculous”.
Leave a Reply