Sainz: Russell deserved penalty for mistake 'top drivers don't make'

Carlos Sainz says the five-second penalty levied upon George Russell for their first corner clash in the US Grand Prix was fully deserved and the result of a mistake that "top drivers don't make".

Sainz lost the advantage of launching his race from pole position at the outset when he was beaten off the line by a blindingly fast Max Verstappen.

The Ferrari driver nevertheless held second as he entered the first corner, only to be punted into a spin by Russell's Mercedes.

Sainz eventually collected himself and trundled back to the pits, but a damaged radiator spelled the end of his race.

"I didn’t get the best of starts," he admitted after his DNF. "I think Max got a really good one because mine compared to the Mercs wasn’t too bad.

"We’ve seen him many, many years here P2 get a better start than P1 for a reason that we don’t understand yet.

"And then, yeah, I was in the middle of a fight with Max and suddenly came someone that wasn’t even in that fight and bumped into me.

"So I don’t think it needs too much explanation and images.

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"It's extremely frustrating, again another race without doing more than a lap."

The stewards understandably frowned upon the incident and handed Russell, who went on to finish the race fifth, a five-second penalty.

In Sainz's view, there was no question that the sanction was warranted.

"For sure a penalty was deserved," said the Scuderia charger. "If he deserves five, 10 or a stop-go I’m not going to evaluate.

"I think you’ve never seen this kind of incident in the top three positions because normally in the top four drivers don’t do these kind of mistakes."

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