Carlos Sainz didn’t have the pace to work wonders at the 2023 Canadian GP qualifying session and could only manage P8. However, after impending Pierre Gasly in the closing stages of Q1, the Spaniard was handed a three-place grid penalty. In an interview with Sky Sports after the race, Sainz stated that it was Gasly’s tantrums on the team radio which resulted in a penalty for him.
Qualifying was extremely chaotic in Montreal ahead of Sunday’s race. With rain having an effect on proceedings, it was very difficult for most drivers to get a clean run in. Like Sainz, Pierre Gasly was also struggling to improve on his time, but couldn’t make it out of Q1. The story, however, could have been very different had Sainz not impended him on turn 13 during Gasly’s final push lap.
A furious Gasly took the team radio to vent out his anger and frustration. Taking the Alpine driver’s reactions into account, most people became certain that Sainz would get a penalty and in the end, race control did just that. Sainz, however, was furious, and insisted that he too got impended multiple times.
Carlos Sainz didn’t complain about getting impended several times
Qualifying was extremely chaotic in Montreal on Saturday. Amidst that chaos, Sainz himself feels that he got impended at least seven times. However, unlike the other drivers, he chose to remain calm and focus on his own driving. That is the reason none of the drivers who impended him got penalized.
“Some incidents are under investigation, others are not,” the Madrid born driver said as reported by Sky Sports. “It depends on how much you shout on the radio and how much you complain. So let’s see.”
This was an indirect reference to how Gasly reacted on the team radio after he failed to improve his time. Although it did appear as though Sainz blocked him on the exit, the 28-year-old remains adamant that he was innocent.
Sainz defends his actions against Gasly
According to Sainz, there was no way he couldn’t have gotten out of Gasly’s way during the final Q1 run. There wasn’t enough time for Sainz to prepare for another lap, so as he described, it was “every man for himself.”
“I was stopped, and I had to let other cars go,” he added. “And I couldn’t get out of the way. I did my best to get out of the way, and I tried to go.”
Sainz made the beforementioned comments before the stewards came up with the decision of penalizing him. He managed to find his way into Q3, but could only muster up a P8 starting position for the race. With a three-place grid penalty, however, Sainz will now start the 2023 Canadian GP from P11.
