The inaugural Las Vegas GP started out as a nightmare for Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard badly damaged his car during the first practice session after he drove over an abnormally high drain cover. Ferrari placed a demand on the insurance company to compensate the team for the extensive damage the car took. Although months have passed since the incident took place, team principal Frederic Vasseur is still persistent in seeking compensation.
Senior F1 journalist Jenna Fryer made the revelation on X, quoting Vasseur. As per Fryer, the Ferrari boss said, “We are still discussing it. It is a work in progress.”
#F1: Fred Vasseur says Ferrari is still in talks on financial compensation for the destroyed chassis in FP1 at Las Vegas. “We are still discussing it, it is a work in progress.”
— Jenna Fryer (@JennaFryer) February 13, 2024
Sainz’s crash became a contentious issue as the car required extensive work to become functional again. The repair work included replacing the chassis, the internal combustion engine, and the control electronics.
Moreover, not only did it threaten Ferrari’s target of keeping the costs under control for the budget cap regulations but also resulted in Sainz receiving a 10-place grid penalty for no fault of his own. Vasseur, who was expecting some leniency from the FIA, was unsurprisingly left fuming after his side received none.
What infuriated him further was Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff’s inconsiderate response. Reports have claimed that it was interestingly the Silver Arrows who ensured that the FIA followed the rule book correctly and gave Sainz a penalty.
Can Ferrari recoup the losses suffered from Carlos Sainz’s crash?
While cases like Carlos Sainz’s take longer for the insurance company to hand payouts, precedents suggest a positive outcome for Ferrari. Romain Grosjean’s 2017 Malaysian GP crash can be used as one such example as a precedent.
Grosjean suffered a heavy crash into the barriers after a loose drain shredded his tire to pieces. The impact catapulted his car and sent him into the wall, destroying the chassis. While Haas had to wait for long, the insurance company did compensate them for the loss.
Therefore, there is hope for Ferrari as well, who have a fairly similar case. In both cases, neither driver lost control of the car before hitting the obstacle. Moreover, it was the unusually high drain cover that caused the crash. As a result, neither the teams nor the drivers had anything to do with the placement of those drain covers.
Vasseur, who opened the case in December, is well aware of the lethargic process. As per SI, the Frenchman in an interview last year said, “You know that, when you open the discussion with the insurance, it’s ages! It’s true everywhere, including in F1.”
He was, however, hopeful of a favorable outcome. “We will have the time to have the discussion, we reopened the case yesterday or the day before. But it would be fair!” he added.
