Vasseur is upset after Sainz’s penalty

Carlos Sainz was forced to retire in the first practice session in Las Vegas. The Spanish driver’s car was damaged after running over a sewer cover. Following this racing incident, Carlos Sainz received an urgent message displayed on his steering wheel, requiring him to stop.

With this incident, the 29-year-old driver received a 10-place penalty on the grid for Sunday’s race. Ferrari appealed this decision, but in vain.

Important consequences

The battery of Carlos Sainz’s single-seater has been damaged. Following this third similar problem, the Scuderia driver has been penalized. A decision that has outraged Ferrari’s team principal, Frederic Vasseur, after the refusal of the stewards to proceed with the appeal of the decision. The incident was caused by a problem observed on the track.

“« Of course, I went there and discussed it with them,” exclaimed the Frenchman. “« It’s a strange feeling for us because firstly, I don’t think we did anything wrong. We have to pay a huge price for this. And on top of that, we have the penalty while we are fighting for the championship. 10 places, it’s a massive blow. We have to try not to think about it, do the work to come back. We have a good pace, we need to focus on qualifying, and then have a good race. We don’t have time to dwell on it.” »

A second positive session

In order to be operational as quickly as possible, the Italian garage got to work on the repairs. If Carlos Sainz was able to resume during the second session, it was thanks to the stoppage of the first session after 10 minutes, followed by a significant delay before the start of the second format. We are not trying to set a record on that, explained the former Alfa Romeo director. But of course, it was a big deal because we had to change the chassis, the engine, the battery, the gearbox, in order to build a new one. It was a good job by the mechanics.

In the end, FP2 turned out to be positive for both drivers. They achieved the two best times. We know that it’s a bit like Monaco or Baku, it’s a long weekend, and we have to build performance throughout the weekend, said Vasseur. It’s not just about being fast in P1, but it’s better to be fast in P1. So far, everything is going well. The track will improve much more than a normal track, which means you have to anticipate what the track conditions will be like by Saturday.

At Alpine, the car was also damaged due to track issues. The chassis of Esteban Ocon’s single-seater had to be changed, as well as Carlo Sainz’s. This is normally prohibited as a single-seater is theoretically supposed to be inspected before going on the track. However, for this element, the FIA officials found a way around it, as explained by the head of Ferrari: “« It was also a good joke »,” Vasseur said. “« You’re not allowed to change the chassis during the day. But they told us it was past midnight, which means it’s no longer the same day! »”