Carlos Sainz was given a 5-second time penalty for his collision with Fernando Alonso on lap 57 of the 2023 Australian GP. The incident occurred at turn 1 after the Ferrari driver turned in on a fellow Spaniard.
Alonso and Sainz were 3rd and 4th, but the incident put the 2x champion dead last. However, the lap was voided and the grid order was reset. This allowed Alonso to reclaim his podium position.
Due to his involvement in the collision, Sainz was handed a 5-second time penalty. The Spaniard finished the race 4th but was moved to 12th after the time was added.
Ferrari appeal on the Sainz penalty has been dismissed: “There is no significant and relevant new element which was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned. The Petition is therefore dismissed.”#AMuS #F1
— Tobi Grüner 🏁 (@tgruener) April 18, 2023
The Maranello-based outfit decided to challenge the steward’s decision. Nevertheless, the FIA decide to keep the penalty imposed on the Spaniard after the team fail to gather enough evidence.
Ferrari lacks evidence as FIA Carlos Sainz
Ferrari raised a petition against the steward’s decision to penalize Sainz for the collision on lap 57. The team had a virtual hearing with the FIA on Tuesday morning.
Each team is required to submit relevant pieces of evidence to prove their point. The Italian team submitted Sainz’s telemetry data, the driver’s statements regarding the incident, and statements from other drivers after the race.
The FIA reviewed Sainz’s telemetry data and deemed it nothing new. Sainz stated that his vision was compromised due to the sun. He also cited a lack of grip which Fernando Alonso too claimed to be a probable cause in his post-race interview.
Carlos Sainz’s Australian Grand Prix time penalty has been upheld after Ferrari’s right of review request was dismissed by stewards 👇pic.twitter.com/hz6nn2edKO
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) April 18, 2023
However, the FIA decided to uphold its original decision. The stewards claimed every driver on the grid would have been equally impacted by the sun or lack of grip. Therefore Sainz’s telemetry data and his statements were considered unjustifiable.
They summarised the hearing stating, “no significant and relevant new element which was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned.” The team’s right to review the decision was hence dismissed.
F1 Twitter Reacts to FIA’s Decision
Ferrari issued a statement following the FIA’s decision to retain the original result of the Australian GP. The team respects the authority’s decision and will cooperate with the body on further policing the sport.
Statement from Scuderia Ferrari ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/LFEgGZkzRB
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) April 18, 2023
However, the Tifosi were unimpressed with the team’s decision to challenge the FIA. Some Ferrari fans claim the team stood no ground and wasted time and resources fighting a lost cause.
Ferrari’s groundbreaking new evidence:
– Telemetry (not new, agains the case)
– Sainz’s written statement (“it wasn’t my fault, I swear”)
– Other drivers’ media statementsSurprised they didn’t use Sky Italia’s commentary where they were making up new rules. pic.twitter.com/BdsQqlfPdC
— sara (@_allthatglitz) April 18, 2023
the stewards after sainz requested a two and a half hour meeting because the SUN WAS IN HIS EYES pic.twitter.com/k0VINtuDZj
— eda 🦄 (@edasdias) April 18, 2023
so ferrari decided to waste money and time because sainz said he had sun in his eyes? smart, really smart 🙃 https://t.co/nlhbSRgPjl
— mila (@shilreas) April 18, 2023
Ferrari fought 10x harder for a Sainz P4 on which they had ZERO grounds to overturn than they did for a Leclerc WIN in Austria 2019 when they had plenty of previous incidents they could’ve pulled up.
Someone save this man pic.twitter.com/IsnAivGN2Y
— Luke 🆑 📠 (@ElPredestinato) April 18, 2023
Ferrari have failed to convince the FIA to look in to overturning Carlos Sainz’s penalty in Australia*.
*I cannot believe I typed this incredibly boring statement, please just carry on as normal.
— Ben Hunt (@benjhunt) April 18, 2023
With Charles Leclerc retiring early due to a spin, the team scored 0 points in the race. The ruling also confirms the worst start to an F1 season by the Scuderia since 2009. The team has only scored 26 points so far and is 4th in the constructor’s championship.