Carlos Sainz has blamed a McLaren mechanic for the pit lane incident which resulted in a five-second penalty during Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix.
Following a poor first pit stop, in which his Maranello mechanics were confused by the late call. Who then lost time trying to find the missing left rear tyre.
By this time, Carlos Sainz had already endured a troubled race. When an even worse second pit stop added to the disaster as he was released into the path of Fernando Alonso’s Alpine.
Meanwhile, the Zandvoort pitlane’s congested layout and McLaren undertaking a pit stop for Lando Norris at the same time did not help the Spaniard’s situation either.
Carlos Sainz blames McLaren mechanic for penalty
Sainz initially had room to enter the pitlane after his stop, but he had to slow down and take avoiding actions to not hit the McLaren mechanics. Who were working on Norris’s car directly in front of him.
This delay released him into Alonso’s path and the two made light contact. Which led to a FIA investigation. Where the stewards handed a five-second time penalty to the Ferrari driver, dropping him from fifth on the track to eighth in the final classification.
When asked to reflect on his second pit stop, Carlos Sainz insisted that a McLaren mechanic carrying a jack was blocking his way. This forced him to brake in order to avoid running over the McLaren mechanic.
“By the time they released me, it was clearly safe with Fernando, but then I had to hit the brakes to [not] hit the McLaren mechanic that ran into my exit line,” he said after the Dutch Grand Prix.
The Spaniard continued by explaining why he felt that his release was not worthy of a penalty, “It was this braking that generated the unsafe release. I was frustrated by it because I thought I’d saved someone’s life and not generated a dangerous situation.”
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Sainz accuses Alonso of taking the advantage of the situation
Suggesting that Alonso may have overplayed the incident in order to guarantee a penalty, Sainz found Fernando Alonso’s view over the team radio annoying. He believes the Alpine driver just wanted to take advantage of the situation.
He thinks his fellow compatriot overreacted in light of the potential threat posed by the unsafe release from the Maranello team.
The 28-year-old insisted that the release wasn’t his or Ferrari’s fault as he continued to blame the McLaren mechanic.
“The problem is there was this McLaren guy that with a jack running into my driving line, and I had to brake, and I couldn’t get the pit exit right, but is it my fault? Is it my team’s fault?” he continued.
“No, it is some guy with a jack at McLaren that runs into my driving line, and I had to hit the brakes. And I’m pretty sure so Fernando exaggerated a bit to try and get me a penalty.”
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