Formula One 2023: Carlos Sainz appeal against Australian GP penalty thrown out
The five second penalty cost Carlos Sainz eight places but Ferrari weren’t able to have it revoked by Australian Grand Prix stewards following a marathon hearing.
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Ferrari’s petition to have Carlos Sainz’s penalty revoked has been thrown out by the Australian Grand Prix stewards following a virtual hearing spanning more than two and a half hours.
Almost three weeks removed from the controversial end to the Albert Park pandemonium, the Spaniard was categorically told he would have to settle for a 12th-place finish after his three-pronged argument was shot down by the stewards.
The 28 year old was hit with a five-second time penalty for crashing into Fernando Alonso shortly after the second red flag restart of the April 2 race, which caused him to drop eight places down the order.
Sainz, alongside Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur and assistant team principal Lauren Mekies, petitioned the stewards to re-open the driver’s case, arguing the team had new relevant information.
They submitted telemetry data from Sainz’s car following the restart, witness statements from rival drivers – including Alonso – taken from interviews post-race, as well as a statement from Sainz himself.
The driver came armed with a litany of excuses – including cold tyres and sun in his eyes – as to why the crash was not worthy of a penalty, however the stewards deemed none of the accompanying documents in the petition were relevant to re-open the case.
They felt the telemetry data actually proved that Sainz was “wholly to blame for the collision” and that in the circumstance of cold tyres and sun positioning, both were variables which “equally impacted other drivers too”.
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Alonso was ultimately not wronged by the crash with Sainz, as a third red flag was then brought out and the race order reset – installing him back into third place.
The Aston Martin driver jumped to Sainz’s defence after the race, claiming he felt the penalty was too harsh.
His comments were a key part of the witness statements from rival drivers, however the stewards felt they contained no new relevant information about the collision.
In response to the stewards’ ruling, Ferrari released a statement acknowledging but disagreeing with the decision.
“We acknowledge the FIA decision not to grant us a right of review in relation to the penalty imposed on Carlos Sainz at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix,” the statement read.
“We are naturally disappointed, and felt that we had provided sufficient significant new elements for the FIA to re-examine the decision especially in the context of the particular conditions and multiple incidents that occurred during the final restart.
“We are however respectful of the process and of the FIA decision. We are now looking forward to entering broader discussions with the FIA, F1 and all the Teams, with the aim of further improving the policing of our sport, in order to ensure the highest level of fairness and consistency that our sport deserves.”
Originally published as Formula One 2023: Carlos Sainz appeal against Australian GP penalty thrown out
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