In a late restart at Albert Park, Sainz collided with fellow countryman Fernando Alonso, costing the Ferrari driver a five-second penalty that dropped him from P4 to P12.
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Carlos Sainz expressed his disappointment on social media after Ferrari’s appeal regarding his late-race Australian Grand Prix penalty was rejected on Tuesday. He added that he is “100% focused” on the upcoming race in Azerbaijan. In a late restart at Albert Park, Sainz collided with fellow countryman Fernando Alonso, costing the Ferrari driver a five-second penalty that dropped him from P4 to P12 and out of the points. In the post-race interview, the Spaniard appeared frustrated, and Ferrari later filed an appeal. Following a hearing on Tuesday morning, the FIA made the decision to maintain Sainz’s punishment.
“Two weeks later, I still think the penalty is too disproportionate and I believe it should have at least been reviewed on the basis of the evidence and reasoning we have presented. We have to continue working together to improve certain things for the future,” Sainz said. “The consistency and decision making process has been a hot topic for many seasons now and we need to be clearer for the sake of our sport. What happened in Australia is now in the past and I am 100% focused on the next race in Baku.”
According to team manager Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari has petitioned the FIA, the organisation that oversees Formula One, in an effort to obtain a right of review regarding the penalty imposed on Carlos Sainz during the Australian Grand Prix. During a dramatic late restart at Albert Park, Sainz tipped Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin into a spin. Logan Sargeant also crashed into Nyck de Vries’ back, and Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon’s Alpines clashed.
The announcement of a five-second time penalty for Sainz came through as the order was reset to the previous restart ahead of a final lap to the checkered flag behind the Safety Car, causing the Spaniard to broadcast a string of angry messages. Sainz eventually crossed the finish line in fourth place, but the penalty he received caused him to lose points and fall all the way to 12th, leaving him “too angry to talk” in the moments following the race (as you can see in the clip above).
“We did a petition for a review of the case – we sent it to the FIA,” Vasseur confirmed on Thursday. “As we are discussing with the FIA… I don’t want to discuss any details of this discussion. The only thing is [the] Gasly/Ocon [collision], for sure we had also Sargeant/De Vries [colliding] into Turn 1, and the reaction of the stewards was not the same.”
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“The process is that first they will have a look on our petition to see if they can re-open the case, then we’ll have a second hearing a bit later with the same stewards for the next meeting, about the decision itself. What we can expect is at least to have an open discussion with them, also for the good of the sport to avoid to have these kind of decisions when you have three cases on the same corner and not the same decision.”
As per Article 14 of the FIA’s International Sporting Code, competitors can request a right of review up to 14 days after a ruling from the stewards if “a significant and relevant new element is discovered which was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned”.
