Grand Prix

Carlos Sainz Handed Three-Place Grid Drop for Impeding during Japan GP Qualifying

Nelson Espinal|
Nov 3, 2019; Austin, TX, USA; A view of the FIA Formula One flag before the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Nov 3, 2019; Austin, TX, USA; A view of the FIA Formula One flag before the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Williams driver Carlos Sainz has received a three-place penalty for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix for impeding Hamilton.

The Spanish driver finished P12 in qualifying for the race; however, during Q2, he impeded Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.

Sainz was on a cooldown lap, while Lewis was accelerating. As they approached a corner, Hamilton found himself with no space to evade the Williams car.

Following the session, the FIA conducted an investigation, resulting in Sainz receiving a three-place grid penalty.

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"Car 55 [Sainz] was on an in-lap after having completed a push lap when Car 44 [Hamilton] was starting its push lap, and Car 44 had to move off track to avoid Car 55 in Turn 1," the FIA report read.

"The driver of Car 55 stated that he did not have any warning from the team of the approach of Car 44 on a push lap. "

"He stated that he was caught completely by surprise and because of the approach speed of Car 44, and the angle of his car, he could not see Car 44 in his mirrors."

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"However, notwithstanding the above, the team had ample warning that Car 44 was on an out lap whilst Car 55 was on its push lap. 

"Also, more than eight seconds elapsed from when it was obvious Car 44 was not going into the pits, and hence was going to start a push lap, and when Car 55 could have taken appropriate action if the driver had been warned by the team."

"It is noted that the standard penalty guideline for this offence during qualifying, irrespective of whether it was the fault of the driver or the team, is a three-grid position penalty, and therefore the stewards find that the standard penalty should be applied."

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Sainz was already outside the points-scoring positions, and now earning points will be quite a challenge.

As a result of the penalty, he will start P15 for the race, promoting Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso to P12, VCARB's Liam Lawson to P13, and Red Bull Racing driver Yuki Tsunoda to P14.

Fortunately for Hamilton and Sainz, the incident resulted in no contact. Hamilton advanced to Q3 without any repercussions from the obstruction.

For more F1 news, head over to F1 on SI.

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Nelson Espinal
NELSON ESPINAL

Nelson Espinal lives and breathes sports. Avidly following of everything ranging from motorsports to Mixed Martial Arts to tennis, he is connected with most of the sports world at all times. His dream of writing about sports started at 16 years of age, writing for a Lakers fans blog, and his passions for sports writing has grown since. He has his Bachelor's degree in Political Science, and a minor in writing literature from the University of California, San Diego.

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