Ferrari’s statement on the FIA’s decision to uphold Sainz’s penalty

The FIA ​​on Tuesday dismissed Ferrari’s request to overturn the penalty imposed on Carlos Sainz in last F1 Australian GP for touching Fernando Alonso at the last stop at the start with only 3 laps to go, where the race was again stopped with a red flag due to an accident between Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon. The race continued with back to back positions on both restarts and only one final lap was given to the finish line behind the ‘Safety Car’.

Carlos was given a 5 second penaltyand as the cars regrouped behind the safety car, that penalty ended in a disproportionate consequences for Carlos, since then this relegated him from 4th place to 12th position, outside the points. Ferrari filed an appeal, but on Wednesday the option to annul the Spanish sanction was rejected, something to which Ferrari expressed its disagreement through a statement.

“We accept the FIA’s decision not to grant us the right of review in relation to the penalty imposed on Carlos Sainz at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix. Naturally we are disappointed and we feel we have provided enough significant new elements for the FIA ​​to re-examine the decision.especially in the context of the specific conditions and the many incidents that occurred at the last restart,” commented the Italian team.

“However, we respect the FIA’s process and decision. We now look forward to starting wider discussions with the FIA, F1 and all the teams, with the aim of further improving the monitoring of our sport, to ensure the highest level of fairness and consistency that our sport.”added the Maranello team, making it clear that the way in which penalties are applied must be reviewed.

Ferrari complained about the application without listening to the driver

When Carlos Sainz was informed of the penalty by radio, he could not hide his disappointment and asked the commissioners to wait to talk to him. But the FIA ​​acted within minutes, without waiting for the driver. he complained here Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal de Ferrari, after the race, recalled that in the previous appointment it took them 30 laps to punish Alonso and after the race they changed their minds and changed the regulations. The same complaint was raised by Ferrari in its appeal.

Ferrari showed new telemetry data and Carlos Sainz’s explanation of how cold the tires were at that moment (of all drivers) due to the ‘Safety Car’ slowing down on the lap before the stop. Alonso’s statements about the incident were also givenwho said that the punishment was “Too difficult”. The importance of talking to a pilot before making a decision was also recalled, recalling a previous situation with Pérez, whose version of the accident provided new evidence. However, the FIA ​​u200bu200bdid not listen to Ferrari and the Italians did not take long to issue the aforementioned statement.