Carlos Sainz was handed out a penalty for a collision with Fernando Alonso during the 2023 Australian Grand Prix. Ferrari and Sainz have since then filed a petition to appeal the penalty. The verdict took place on Tuesday morning.
Carlos Sainz was seen after the race very disappointed and frustrated. He said it was “the most unfair penalty I have seen in my life”. He was also seen pleading with his race engineer to talk to the FIA.
What happened during the final laps at the Australian Grand Prix?
The final laps of the Australian Grand Prix were nothing short of eventful. It all started when Kevin Magnussen lost grip and hit the wall towards the end of the Grand Prix. This incident caused a red flag to stop the race. The race was then restarted with 2 laps remaining.
Chaos. Chaos?! 🤯
An absolutely insane race restart in Australia 🙃#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/hjGrjWBixS
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 2, 2023
As the race restarted, the TV screens of fans watching at home were filled with cars going off track. Out of these incidents, Carlos Sainz had made contact with Alonso causing him to spin. The grid was then reshuffled due to all the incidents. However, the Red Flag was brought on before the cars could cross the first sector.
So this means the grid order would go back to the one prior to the restart. Despite this fact, Carlos Sainz got a penalty for the contact he had with Alonso.
Raw emotions from Carlos Sainz 😩#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/snsErM9nGA
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 2, 2023
Ferrari had since filed a petition to appeal with the FIA. The petition was dismissed on Tuesday morning.
What did the FIA say?
After the FIA dismissed the petition, they said: “There is no significant and relevant new element which was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned. The Petition is therefore dismissed.”
“We considered the fact that this collision took place at the first corner on the first lap of the restart, when, by convention, the Stewards would typically take a more lenient view of incidents. However, we decided that notwithstanding that it was the equivalent of a first lap incident, we considered that there was a sufficient gap for SAI to take steps to avoid the collision and failed to do so. We, therefore, imposed a 5-second time penalty.”
They also added that it was “unnecessary for us to hear from SAI or hear from any other driver to decide that he was wholly to blame for the collision.”
Ferrari released the following statements following the FIA’s verdict:
Statement from Scuderia Ferrari ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/LFEgGZkzRB
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) April 18, 2023
The FIA seemed pretty clear about their views on the incident and the penalty. After this, Ferrari had no points in the Australian Grand Prix with Leclerc retiring in the first lap and Carlos Sainz going from 4th place to out of the points due to the penalty. Ferrari finds themselves in 4th place in the Championship behind Red Bull, Aston Martin, and Mercedes respectively.
What now for Carlos Sainz?
The teams have had a long break due to the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix. This has allowed them sufficient time to bring in upgrades. It would be interesting to see what upgrades the teams bring ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Mercedes has been open about trying out new approaches to the car. They are desperate to get back in the fight for the Championship.
Sainz is currently ahead of Charles Leclerc in the driver standings. but will he be able to keep this lead, or will Leclerc make a comeback? Ferrari must also keep an eye out for the Constructors’ standings. They cannot allow a civil war to affect the team in the fight for 2nd place. Sainz now sits in 5th place on the Championship table. He and the team now have a huge task in front of them in the battle for 2nd place. Aston Martin and Alonso have been looking strong all season.