F1 news: Ferrari responds after horror weekend at Australian Grand Prix
The fallout from a disastrous performance at Albert Park continues for Ferrari, which has asked the FIA to review a time penalty handed to one of its drivers.
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Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur is hoping that Carlos Sainz’s time penalty for crashing into Fernando Alonso at the chaotic Australian Grand Prix will be revoked as the Scuderia reel from a difficult start to the Formula One season.
Sainz was outraged by the five-second sanction which bumped him down form fourth to 12th in Melbourne, telling reporters afterwards that was “didn’t feel well to speak”.
The decision left Ferrari with zero points from the GP as Sainz’s teammate Charles Leclerc crashed out on the opening lap.
“He was devastated on Sunday. We did petition for the review of the case. We’ve sent it to the FIA,” Vasseur told reporters on Thursday.
Sainz was sanctioned after clipping Alonso and sending him into a spin as they jostled for position, although his compatriot’s race was not hurt by the accident due to a red flag which allowed the veteran Aston Martin driver to finish third.
Ferrari feel Sainz was treated more harshly than Pierre Gasly, who was not penalised for a late collision with his Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon after running across the grass on the first corner.
Gasly would have missed this month’s Azerbaijan GP if he had been given a two-point penalty as he would have reached 12 points in a year which triggers a ban.
“We hope at least to have an open discussion with them (the stewards) … also for the good of the sport to avoid to have this kind of decision where you have three cases on the same corner and not the same decision.
“I don’t want to blame someone on a race incident. I’m doing this job for 33 years, and when you have crash on track you have two versions always with a different feedback and different outcome.
“We had the feeling that the Ocon and Gasly situation was treated a bit differently.”
After an awful start to the 2023 campaign, Ferrari trail champions Red Bull by 97 points in the constructors’ standings after three races as Leclerc and Sainz have just 26 points between them.
Ferrari were top after three races last year before reliability issues and calamitous in-race decision-making left the iconic Italian outfit more than 200 points adrift of Red Bull by the end of the season.
That led to Vasseur replacing Mattia Binotto as team principal at the ‘Scuderia’.
Vasseur was previously the team principal at Renault’s Formula One team. From 2017, he held the same position at Ferrari-powered Sauber which was taken over by Alfa Romeo, which has close ties with Ferrari, in 2019.
The Frenchman denied that Ferrari morale is low under his stewardship despite the tricky start “The mood in the team is incredibly good for the level of results that we have. Everyone is very motivated and very focused, the drivers are very supportive with us and the mood in the team is more than good,” said Vasseur.
“For sure, we don’t have the results that we are expecting but we are all working together to improve the situation.” Leclerc, who was champion Max Verstappen’s closest challenger last year, is stuck on six points after failing to finish two of this season’s GPs and only taking seventh in Saudi Arabia.
“I have absolutely no doubt about the motivation of Charles. For sure the start of the season is not ideal at all … but for sure the motivation is there,” said Vasseur.
“I have a good relationship with Charles. This won’t affect the mood for sure. For sure the results are not the ones expected but we all know that.”
FERRARI ANGER: ‘BIGGEST DISGRACE OF THE SPORT’ IN YEARS
Callum Dick and Rebecca Williams
It’s fire and brimstone at a faltering Ferrari after Charles Leclerc declared this “the worst start to a season ever” following a disastrous Australian Grand Prix for the Prancing Horse.
He’s not wrong.
The Scuderia’s 26 points through three races is its worst start to a season since the Formula One points system was changed way back in 2010.
Twelve months after he put his blistering Ferrari on pole at Albert Park, Leclerc started Sunday’s race from seventh on the grid and was never given a chance to retain his Australian crown.
The Monegasque driver, who finished runner-up to Max Verstappen in the world championship last year, was pushed from the track at turn three of the opening lap by Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin.
A furious Leclerc was left standing in the gravel trap as his rivals lapped past him under the safety car — any chance of a repeat performance out the window.
“I’m not pointing the finger on Lance because I just think he had no choice once Fernando (Alonso) slowed down the car the second time and for me it was just impossible to see (what was happening),” Leclerc said.
“I obviously didn’t think that he (Stroll) was there.
“(It is) just extremely frustrating — it’s the worst start to the season ever really.”
Teammate Carlos Sainz looked to have salvaged the day for Ferrari when he drove from a P11 start into fourth with only a few laps to go.
But it was through his front-end contact with compatriot Alonso at the red flag restart — which sent the Aston Martin into a spin — that caused a chaotic crash which claimed a further four cars.
As drivers lined up in pit lane waiting to learn of the stewards’ decision, Sainz was told he would have to serve a five-second post-race penalty for his deed.
A distraught Sainz pleaded with his pitwall to protest the decision, but his cries for help fell on deaf ears.
Because the race was ruled to finish under a safety car, the Spaniard crossed the line in fourth but plummeted all the way down to 12th once the time penalty was applied.
“I’m not going to comment until I see the stewards and they reverse this penalty because it’s the biggest disgrace of the sport that I’ve seen in many, many years,” Sainz fumed.
“Whatever I’m going to say now I would prefer not to say so I would prefer to go to the stewards and then come back.”
It left Ferrari with no points to show from its Aussie adventure, in stark contrast to this time last year when Leclerc’s victory catapulted the famous team to the top of the constructors’ standings.
GP chiefs weigh in on fan ban after track invasion furore
Australian Grand Prix chiefs are confident the premature track invasion by fans before the end of Sunday’s race will not lead to a blanket ban on spectators being allowed on track to soak up post-race celebrations in the future.
The Australian Grand Prix Corporation has promised to conduct a “thorough investigation” into the serious security breach, which resulted in the AGPC being hauled before the FIA stewards on Sunday night.
After a chaotic finish to the Grand Prix won by world champion Max Verstappen, shocking footage emerged of fans invading the track at Albert Park before the race had concluded.
Some spectators came within metres of the speeding Formula One cars after they breached the security fencing.
Vision from spectators in the stands shows fans squeezing their way through the barriers not far past the pit lane exit and entering the track.
The AGPC was placed under review by the FIA and FIA World Motor Sports Council for further investigation after the race promoter was summoned to the stewards to explain the track invasion.
The stewards found the AGPC in breach of the FIA International Sporting Code for a failure to take “reasonable measures” to prevent the early track invasion, resulting in an “unsafe situation”.
AGPC chief executive Andrew Westacott on Monday described the “safety issue” at the end of the race as a breach of a “very robust protocol” and the investigation into the invasion had already started.
This is so bad
— Dan - EngineMode11 (@EngineMode11) April 2, 2023
Fans on the track while cars still running, this is why the organisation have been summoned to the FIApic.twitter.com/Wo1BKPA0xu
“There was a safety issue at the end of the race. As fans would know and as spectators would know, it is a synonymous part of Grand Prix racing where there is a controlled – and I emphasise the world controlled – access to the circuit post the race,” Westacott said.
“We see it in Monza, we see it here and we see it in many other events around the world.
“Unfortunately, on drivers’ right a couple of hundred metres down past the finishing line, a couple of hundred metres before turn one, there was an uncontrolled ingress of people and patrons onto the grass verges and a couple of people went onto the asphalt.
“Myself, my general manager of operations and others met with the FIA and stewards (Sunday) night and the stewards quite rightly and ourselves – and we are already onto it – are going to conduct an investigation to understand the cause of this.
“We work every year to allow the fans to access the track at the end of the race after the cars have passed. This was clearly a breach of what is a very robust protocol.
“Something hasn’t gone quite right. That investigation has already been started, we have gone out and had a look at the area this morning and we are going to make sure that we do a thorough investigation, as we have been requested to by the FIA and the F1 stewards.”
The stewards report described the security breach as an “unacceptable situation that could have had disastrous consequences”
The AGPC has been asked to “urgently present a formal remediation plan to the FIA that adequately addresses the serious concerns”. The stewards said the review would include consultation with Victoria Police, Formula 1 and the FIA.
Westacott said he hoped the review would not lead to a ban on fans being allowed on track after the race in the future.
“I would hope that there is not a ban and I don’t think there needs to be a ban,” he said.
“I think with the combination of infrastructure and modified and improved plans, which we always have to do, then next year it can happen, and it can happen appropriately.
“But clearly what happened yesterday was not a good situation.”
“It was somewhat confusing for everyone at the end of the race. Confusion is not an excuse whatsoever, but I just think there was a level of exuberance and excitement given the large crowds and given the great race we had, that people wanted to get out onto the track but they did so in a manner that wasn’t safe.”
Asked if security was lacking, Westacott said the AGPC investigation would determine if the breach had been related to infrastructure or security personnel.
“We don’t know what was lacking because there is many factors – whether it’s infrastructure or personnel,” he said.
“What we will do before we jump to any conclusions at the corporation is look at the dot plans, look at the infrastructure we had in place and talk to our area managers, but most importantly look at the CCTV which comes from a number of sources.”
The track invasion came as a Formula One fan had a lucky escape after he was hit by debris from Kevin Magnussen’s stricken Haas after the Danish driver slammed into the wall late in the race.
Westacott said the AGPC would also review this incident, but said the height of the debris fences met all FIA requirements.
“It looks like it was a freak one-off because you can’t necessarily have these safety and debris fences going 20m in the air,” Westacott said.
“The debris fences are consistent in height around the world and we are compliant with the FIA regulations, but like everything in motorsport and like everything in major events, you do debriefs at the end at the event and we will investigate to see what we can do to improve.
“I hope the guy is OK, I’m glad his wife or finance as well next to him wasn’t injured and it’s a reminder that safety is paramount when it comes to Formula One and motorsport more broadly.”
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