On Saturday, Carlos Sainz braked and injured Lance Stroll at the end of one of his laps and was called to testify before the stewards. The Spanish driver received a fine of 25,000 euros, which the team paid, in addition to receiving his third reprimand of the season.
While Sainz accepted his mistake and apologized to Stroll , he was frustrated on Sunday night by the stewards’ inconsistency in punishing similar actions during the race.
On its lap out of the pits, the #55 lost the lead and possibly its first F1 win after Williams driver Nicholas Latifi failed to obey the blue flags for nearly half a lap, coupled with numerous other incidents in the races. narrow streets of the principality.
That key time that he lost behind the Canadian allowed Sergio Pérez, from Red Bull, to overtake him and snatch the first position, which he held until the checkered flag.
Sainz ‘s teammate Charles Leclerc was also hampered by traffic during an important phase of the race, as the other Williams car, Alex Albon’s, also hampered him on his lap out of the pits on rubber tires. dry, while the Monegasque driver still had the intermediates mounted.
Albon explained that he was convinced he could go faster due to the difference in pace between the intermediates and the dry tyres, but after a full lap holding the Monegasque rider back, he let himself pass at Santa Devota.
Carlos Sainz explained after the race that he couldn’t understand how none of the Williams drivers had been investigated for their actions, while he was penalized for a less relevant offense in the third free practice session.
“I can’t count how many times I was stopped in Monaco this weekend, whether I was dangerous or not,” said the Spaniard. “What I don’t understand is why we had to pay €25,000 as a team for an obstruction.”
“I accepted the blame and apologized to Lance, but I don’t understand why other cases weren’t investigated and why other drivers weren’t fined for doing the exact same thing.”
“We were harmed and no action was taken. So that’s where we want more clarity and more consistency, it’s as simple as that.”
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto stated that the fine given to Sainz was not correct, as he felt that slowing down Stroll at the time was not dangerous and that the team did its best to avoid him on the busy streets of Monaco.
“We know that the traffic situation in Monaco is always very difficult,” added Binotto. “We did everything we could, we believe that the obstruction that he did was not dangerous.”
“We are not happy with the fine, we believe that it was not the right choice, because we believe that the team and the driver did everything possible to avoid it at that time and not do anything wrong,” repeated the director of the Maranello team to finish.
