P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Alpine Interim Team Principal Bruno Famin has denied that rival Formula 1 teams lobbied for Carlos Sainz’s penalty in Las
In last month’s practice session at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Carlos Sainz damaged his Ferrari after running over a water valve cover, leading to the replacement of the power unit and a request for dispensation from Ferrari regarding the usage of a third energy store. However, the stewards dismissed Ferrari’s appeal for a front-row starting position, resulting in a 10-place grid drop for Sainz. Steward Derek Warwick acknowledged that the penalty felt wrong but stated that they had to adhere to the rules. FIA representative Jock Clear agreed with Warwick’s assessment, emphasizing that the rules needed to be applied consistently. Max Verstappen, who benefited from the grid drop, called for a change in the rules for future incidents, but it was revealed that the addition of a force majeure clause had been previously rejected by the teams. AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost concurred with the stewards’ decision and suggested that the issue could have been avoided with proper track inspection. He compared the incident to Daniel Ricciardo’s experience in Brazil, where damage caused by a collision before the race led to penalty decisions by the FIA.
