F1 News: Carlos Sainz Complains About His Impeding Fine During Monaco GP
Carlos Sainz was summoned by stewards after holding up Lance Stroll on Saturday’s FP3 of the Monaco Grand Prix. He was fined for the third time this 2022 F1 season. The Spanish driver didn’t complain however, accepting his fate and apologising to the Canadian. But he was annoyed by the fact that drivers with similar offences weren’t being reprimanded.
Sainz lost the lead during the out-lap of a pitstop sequence on Sunday after being stuck behind Canadian driver Nicholas Latifi. This meant that Sergio Perez of the Red Bull clan could overcut him and take the lead, eventually resulting in him taking the win.
Sainz’s teammate Charles Leclerc was also pushed back by lapped traffic during the Grand Prix, as Alex Albon came out of the pits in front of him on slicks while the Monégasque driver was on intermediate tyres. Despite this, the Thai-British driver held up Leclerc until he left the track.
Because of these circumstances, Sainz wonders why action wasn’t taken against the Williams drivers.
“I cannot count the times that I got impeded in Monaco this weekend, both being dangerous and not dangerous,” Sainz told the press.
“What I don’t understand is why we got fined 25,000 euros as a team for an impeding which I did.
“I accepted the blame and I apologised to Lance. I don’t understand why other cases are not investigated and other people are not fined for exactly the same thing.”
He continued:
“It cost us both the same and no further action. That was proper impeding, so this is where we want more clarity and we want more consistency, as simple as that.”
Ferrari chief Mattia Binotto agrees with Sainz, adding that being in front of Stroll wasn’t dangerous and that it was the wrong thing for the F1 to do.
“We know that the traffic situation in Monaco is always very difficult,” Binotto added.
“We did our best, we believe that the impeding he made was certainly not dangerous.
“We’re not too happy about the fine, we believe it was not the right choice.
“We believe that as a team and driver, we did our best in order to avoid it that at the time and not making anything wrong with it.”
