Carlos Sainz received a 10-place grid penalty after Ferrari used a third energy story of the season for him due to excessive damage on his car following an incident in practice. The Spaniard’s Ferrari was excessively damaged after it hit a drain cover during one of the practice sessions on Thursday. Nevertheless, after beating the Mercedes duo by finishing a fantastic sixth during the main race, the Spanish driver embraced his villainous side. Sainz did so by taking an unapologetic dig at Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
According to the Fastestpitstop, Carlos Sainz expressed his satisfaction, stating, “I’m very happy to finish ahead of those who wanted me to be penalized”. Sainz’s comment appears to be a reaction to the Mercedes duo who pushed for his penalty.
Carlos Sainz after finishing P6 ahead of both Mercedes:
“I’m very happy to finish ahead of those who wanted me to be penalised”
😅👀
[@F1tutkumuz] #F1 #LasVegasGP pic.twitter.com/wmtpo07erb
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) November 19, 2023
As per the mandatory penalty specified in Article 28.3 of the sporting regulations, stewards lacked the authority to grant an exemption for the Ferrari driver. The stewards stated that the way the rules are currently written, they had no choice but to penalize Sainz.
Did Mercedes deliberately opt not to support Carlos Sainz?
Carlos Sainz’s unfortunate penalty grabbed all the headlines during this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix. Even though Ferrari appealed to the stewards to overturn the penalty, the officials had no power to make such a decision as per the rules of F1.
Soon after, F1 pundits like Ted Kravitz attempted to explain why the stewards were powerless. During his conversation with PlanetF1, Kravitz said, “Mercedes’ point was that they would not have been in a position to object to any derogation.”
However while wrapping up Kravitz added, “Their only position would have been if the rules had been incorrectly applied and some derogation or allowance would have been made for Sainz”. It is in this clever manner that the Silver Arrows ensured that Sainz received a penalty.
