Fred Vasseur has recently opened up about the injustice that Carlos Sainz and Ferrari had to endure in Las Vegas. The Ferrari boss put all his focus on the costly penalty of his driver and claimed that they would have to pass the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi if a situation similar to this arises in the future.
Speaking about this to Auto Motor und Sport, Vasseur said, “If something like that happens to us again, we’ll have to skip Abu Dhabi.” Admittedly, Sainz’s penalty hurt the Prancing Horse by a huge margin.
The moment Carlos Sainz hit the manhole cover😱😱#LasVegasGP #f1lasvegas #CarlosSainz #LasVegasGrandPrix pic.twitter.com/InRv6dUPP3
— Joseph Tanşu (@YusufTanu2) November 17, 2023
Thursday’s FP1 saw the Spanish driver run over a water cover, which resulted in a sparky collision. Sainz’s SF-23 suffered heavily due to the crash as the monocoque, engine components were destroyed. This forced Ferrari to bring a new energy store for the Spaniard.
However, this engine store was one more than the allotted ones in the regulations. Due to this, the Ferrari driver had to take a 10-place grid penalty even when he had no fault to begin with. The FIA rejected Ferrari’s request to consider this as a rare occasion and allow them to have the change.
This sparked huge controversy on the part of fans, critics, and rivals alike. Most of them took online means to share their reactions to it. As the penalty was sustained despite countless objectives, it jeopardized Ferrari’s advantage.
Ferrari hit a roadblock against their P2 fight with Mercedes
Ferrari were vying for a huge point haul coming into Las Vegas. However, their wishes fell short as Carlos Sainz had to move back to P12 despite finishing Q3 in P2.
This pushed their chances to overtake Mercedes which eventually ended brutally. The Spanish driver, despite starting the race from P12 finished two places ahead of the Mercedes duo. Sainz finished the race in P6, while Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished the race in P7 and P8.
What do you make of Carlos Sainz’s grid penalty? 💭 pic.twitter.com/YfuZtVhS9Q
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) November 18, 2023
However, Leclerc’s P2 helped the Prancing Horse by quite a margin as it helped them reduce the gap. Ferrari now stands with 388 points, compared with 392 of Mercedes.
Naturally, Carlos Sainz was not impressed with how he had to digest the ‘unfair’ penalty. Had that not been the case, the Spanish driver could have taken a hefty lead for P4 in the Drivers’ championship.
