Scuderia Ferrari have made a request to the FIA for a right of review over what they feel was an unjustified penalty for Carlos Sainz Jr. at the final standing restart during the Australian Grand Prix.
Sainz was handed a five-second time penalty for colliding with Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team’s Fernando Alonso at turn one, meaning he was only classified twelfth and outside the points at Albert Park despite running inside the top four throughout the race.
The Spaniard was heard complaining in an emotional manner in the pit lane prior to the final lap tour to the chequered flag, with Sainz believing that the stewards in Melbourne should have asked for his side of the story before applying the penalty.
And Ferrari believe that whilst Sainz was handed a penalty, a similar investigation for a collision between the two BWT Alpine F1 Team drivers went unpunished, whilst another clash between Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant and Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries was not even looked into by the stewards.
Sainz would regain fourth should the penalty be overturned, but Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur says that whilst talks are ongoing with the FIA, he only wants the outcome to be fair for similar incidents.
“As we are discussing with the FIA, and we sent the report to the FIA, I don’t want to disclose any details of this discussion,” Vasseur is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com.
“The only thing is that about Gasly/Ocon, and for sure we had Sargeant/De Vries at Turn 1, and the reaction of the stewards was not the same. But I want to avoid making any comment.”
Should the right of review be successful, it would be the second in as many races to be so, with a ten-second time penalty for Alonso having been overturned after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The stewards will look to see if Ferrari have a case and if any ‘significant and relevant’ new information is available, and they will then decide whether to uphold the penalty or reinstate Sainz to fourth place.
“The process is that first they will have a look on our petition to see if they can re-open the case,” said Vasseur. “Then we’ll have a second hearing a bit later, with the same stewards or the stewards of the next meeting, about the decision itself.
“What we can expect is at least to have an open discussion with them, and also for the good of the sport to avoid this kind of decision when you have three cases on the same corner, and not the same decision.
“The biggest frustration was from Carlos, and you heard it on the radio, to not have a hearing.
“Because the case was very special, and in this case, I think it would have made sense considering that it was the race was over, it was not affecting the podium, to have a hearing, as Gasly and Ocon had.
“It’s up to the stewards to what is the right penalty, but for me at least for Carlos, for the team, to reopen the discussion, it’s a first step. The outcome of this will be up to the FIA. We have our argument for sure, but I will keep the argument for the FIA.
“For sure we are expecting the review of the decision, because it’s a petition for review, and we are not going to get the same decision.”
