Sainz hit with time penalty, drops to fifth

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz has been hit with a five-second time penalty and with a penalty point on his licence for his collision with Oscar Piastri.

Following the mid-race safety car interruption, Carlos Sainz drove behind McLaren’s Lando Norris and appeared to have better pace than the Briton. As a result, the Spaniard was eager to overtake the Australian, and once managed to go around on the outside of the McLaren into Turn 13, but Piastri slightly forced him off the track.

The stewards noted the incident, but Piastri escaped a potential penalty. A few laps later, Sainz attempted an overtaking move at the back straight into Turn 17. The Spaniard surprised Piastri with a late move, but he slightly lost control of the back of his Ferrari and missed the apex.

As a result, the pair collided, with Piastri picking up damage on his front wing which forced him to pit.

The incident has been investigated after the race, and the stewards decided to give Sainz a five-second time penalty and a point on his licence. The Spaniard originally crossed the line in fourth, but the penalty saw him drop a spot to P5 with Red Bull driver Sergio Perez having been promoted up into P4.

The full statement read: “The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 81 (Oscar Piastri), the driver of Car 55 (Carlos Sainz), team representatives and reviewed video evidence and determined that Car 55 was overtaking Car 81 at Turn 17 when he lost the rear slightly and collided with Car 81. The collision resulted in damage to the front wing of Car 81.

“It was clear to us that Car 55 was to blame for the collision. In the overtake attempt, Car 55 braked late, missed the apex and in the process lost the rear, with the resulting collision. Although Car 81 was trying to turn in to counter the overtaking attempt, Car 81 gave sufficient room to Car 55. In the circumstances, we find Car 55 to be predominantly to blame for the collision.

“In this case, we took into account, as mitigating factors, the fact that but for the slight loss of control of the rear by Car 55, the collision would likely not have happened and it would have been hard but good racing. The standard penalty for a collision is 10 seconds with 2 penalty points. In light of the mitigating circumstances, we therefore impose a 5 second time penalty with 1 penalty point.”