He Australian Grand Prix it was absolute chaos. After two red flags and at the third start, Carlos Sainz went too far and touched Fernando Alonso, which trumped The Ferrari driver received a five-second penalty, but… is the penalty fair?
Precisely in the first round of the dispute in Albert Park, a very similar incident occurred, coincidences of fate, between a Ferrari and an Aston Martin. In turn 3, charles leclerc was drawing on the outside and received a touch of Lance Stroll for which he ended up trapped in the gravel and abandoning.
“In the third corner Fernando braked early blocked by the riders in front and I saw a gap on the outside. Lance was in the middle and he touched me. I don’t blame him, it’s a racing accident“, argued the Monegasque.
AND the FIA interpreted it that way too. Stroll found himself in a dead end and unable to maneuver without touching anyone. Finally, he could not avoid contact with the ’16’, but a non-punctionable action that was considered a career move despite the fact that it resulted in an abandonment.
However, the one who did receive a penalty was Carlos Sainz in the last restart. The man from Madrid over-braked in turn 1 and touched Fernando Alonso, causing him to spin. This action cost five seconds for “causing a collision”.
“No. It can’t be. No. No. This is unacceptable. Tell her. let them wait what to expect until the race is over and we discuss it. Please please please. let them wait Let them talk about it with me. The penalty is very harsh“He said on the radio when he found out about the penalty.
The FIA was clear. Unlike the action between Stroll and Leclerc, the sanction comes because the commissioners interpret that Sainz did have room for manoeuvre. If he had attacked the apex more, there would have been no contact, but he over-braked and caused the accident.
Despite this, Sainz was clear that he wanted to meet with the FIA to discuss the sanction and recover the fourth position he had won on the track. He even avoided making statements to the press to avoid any controversy before speaking to the stewards.
The one who is also not clear about the sanction compared to that of Stroll is Frederic Vasseur, head of the Ferrari team: “In those situations, there will be people who say that the sanction is fair. For us it is hard, we have had something similar with Stroll and Leclerc and nothing has happened. They should talk to the drivers beforehand and see if they have braked, at what point and study everything better.”
The French leader’s argument is supported by the data, which could show that the incident could come from a car failure or something similar, which could exempt Sainz from the penalty. But as long as the FIA does not analyze this data in this type of actions, the sanction for actions like Sainz’s will be fairer than others like Stroll’s.
