Carlos Sainz will start outside the top ten on the grid for tomorrow's Canadian Grand Prix after the Ferrari driver was handed a three-place grid drop for impeding Alpine's Pierre Gasly during qualifying.
Gasly had been seeking to avoid missing the cut at the end of Q1, which was held on a damp but drying track in which each lap was typically faster than the ones before.
But as he completed his final flying lap, Gasly found the racing line through the apex of turn 13 blocked by Sainz and Yuki Tsunoda who were backing off in preparation for starting their own push laps.
He was forced to take to the escape road meaning that he failed to improve his time and was eliminated, while Sainz went through and ended up qualifying in eighth place.
The stewards reviewed telemetry and radio messages, including Sainz' race engineer Ricardo Adami warning him there was a “car behind” and “don’t back off.”
"[Sainz] stated that he was surprised that [Tsunoda] overtook him into turn 13 and as a result he accelerated late to start his fast lap," the stewards reported. [Gasly] stated that [Sainz] could have and should have ‘gone earlier’.
“Although the overtaking move by [Tsunoda] took [Sainz] by surprise, it is our determination that [Sainz] was predominantly to blame and unnecessarily impeded [Gasly].”
The three-place grid drop means that Sainz will start from P11 tomorrow, right behind Charles Leclerc who gains a place to start from P10. Also gaining a place apiece from the reshuffle are Oscar Piastri and Alex Albon.
At the time over the team radio, Gasly blasted Sainz who he said "should be banned for such a thing! I'm coming at 300kph!" His boss, Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer, agreed and called the blocking "ridiculous".
Gasly had barely calmed down by the time he spoke to the media in the paddock: "It is completely unacceptable to be driving the way Carlos did," he said.
"It is as simple as that, I am coming at 300kph, and he's sitting at 30kph in the last chicane, just focusing on his own lap. But you are not alone on the race track.
"I could not even finish my lap. It would have put us in the top six quite easily. It was extremely dangerous, and it was just unnecessary, so I am absolutely gutted."
The penalty handed out to Sainz meant little to Gasly who will still start from the penultimate row of the grid.
"It's not even what I care about, because the damage has been done," he fumed. "I'm sitting here in P17 when we have the car and pace to be in the top ten, and even top six in these conditions.
"[The penalty] isn't going to give it back, it's not going to give us back the qualifying we should have had," he said. "It ruined my qualifying and will impact my race a lot so it is just not acceptable."
Sainz brushed off Gasly's comments when speaking to Viaplay. "He is probably a bit excited," he said. "I got impeded seven times and I am not asking for anyone to get banned.
"I will analyse the incident and see, but we were very tight with the flag," he explained. "The chequered flag was about to fall and we had to get a lap in.
"It was one of those situations where it was every man for himself. I got impeded in the same chicane one time, but I am not here shouting."
Sainz had earlier been investigated for twice appearing to impede Williams' Alex Albon in the final chicane in FP3, but no action was taken over either incident.
And stewards are still investigating whether Tsunoda impeded Sainz' team mate Charles Leclerc and Haas' Nico Hulkenberg, and whether Aston Matin driver Lance Stroll impeded Gasly's team mate Esteban Ocon.
Hulkenberg was also under investigation for going too slowly under the final red flag in Q3 on his way to picking up P2 on the grid. It was certainly all go in Montreal!
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