No exemption for Ferrari in Las Vegas, Sainz penalized on the grid!

It’s a decision that will continue to be controversial. Carlos Sainz will be sanctioned with a 10-place penalty on the starting grid for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The Spaniard suffers the consequences of the unfortunate incident that happened to him during Free Practice 1 : launched at full speed, he was hit head-on by a manhole which seems to have completely unwelded at the level of his concrete frame.

The chassis of the SF-23 was heavily damaged in this accident, including damage to the power unit and battery. Ferrari had to change this battery on the car of the Iberian, which will therefore exceed the authorized quota over a season. An economic cost, but also sporting: despite the request for an exemption from the Team, the FIA ​​has decided to apply the rule to the letter: no exception has been granted and Carlos Sainz will be penalized by 10 places on the grid.

“Although the damage was caused by these extremely unusual external circumstances, Article 2.1 of the Sporting Regulations of the Formula 1 requires all officials, including commissioners, to apply the regulations as written. Therefore, the mandatory penalty specified by Article 28.3 of the Sporting Regulations must be applied, the race direction justifies itself. The commissioners note that if they had the authority to grant a waiver, in what they consider in this case to be extenuating, unusual and unfortunate circumstances, they would have done so; however, the regulations do not allow such a measure. »

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