This is why FIA decided not to review Sainz's penalty in Australia

F1 News

This is why FIA decided not to review Sainz penalty
18 April 2023 at 13:26
Last update 18 April 2023 at 14:16
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  • GPblog.com

Ferrari's appeal to the FIA against the penalty given to Carlos Sainz in the closing stages of the Australian Grand Prix has been rejected. Ferrari thought it had come up with new insights, which meant the decision had to be remade. The FIA disagreed.

In a chaotic final phase in Melbourne on a standing restart with a few laps to go, Ferrari driver Sainz, drove his compatriot Fernando Alonso off the track. More things went wrong at that start and there were many spins and crashes, but the Spaniard was penalised with a five-second time penalty. Ferrari appealed and that appeal was rejected.

FIA considered new elements not new

Ferrari appealed, using as a basis so-called "new elements" that the FIA would not have been aware of during the decision. These new elements were the telemetry from Sainz's car, a witness statement from Sainz himself and some comments from other drivers after the race, but these three elements were not considered 'new' by the FIA.

The FIA stated that it countered that they did have possession of the telemetry from Sainz's car. Sainz himself stated that he did not have good visibility because of the sun in his eyes and that he had little grip on the cold tyres. Other drivers reportedly confirmed this. The FIA stated its view that these are not valid reasons for not receiving a penalty for a collision.