Carlos Sainz has been handed a five-place grid penalty for next weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix following his collision with Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli during Sunday’s US Grand Prix in Austin.
The Spaniard was battling Antonelli for seventh place on Lap 7 when he attempted an inside move at Turn 15, locking up and colliding with the young Italian.
The contact sent the Mercedes driver into a spin, while Sainz’s Williams sustained heavy damage, forcing him into retirement. Antonelli managed to recover and finished the race in 13th place.
The incident was reviewed after the race by the FIA Stewards, who concluded that Sainz was at fault and imposed a five-place grid penalty for the next round, along with two penalty points on his super licence – bringing his total to four for the current 12-month period.
Stewards: “Car 55 had not earned a right to be left space”
In their official statement, the Stewards outlined the reasoning behind the decision, noting that Sainz’s car was not sufficiently alongside Antonelli’s at the corner apex to claim space.
“Car 55 attempted an inside overtake on Car 12 at Turn 15 and a collision between the two cars occurred at the apex,” the Stewards said.
“The driver of Car 55 maintained that he had expected the driver of Car 12 to leave him space at the apex but Car 12 turned in early and Car 55 locked brakes when it became clear that a collision was unavoidable.
“He suggested that the driver of Car 12 ought to have anticipated an overtake attempt by Car 55 and left space to avoid contact. However, at no point prior to the apex was the front axle of Car 55 alongside or ahead of the mirror of Car 12.
“Therefore, according to the Driving Standards Guidelines, Car 55 had not earned a right to be left space at the apex. The Stewards therefore determine that the driver of Car 55 was predominantly to blame for the collision and a penalty is applied accordingly.
“As the driver to be penalized did not finish the race, a grid penalty equalling a 10 seconds time penalty is imposed.”
The decision means Sainz will start five positions lower than his qualifying result at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, tightening the midfield battle for points in what has been a turbulent season for Williams.
Sainz: “It looks worse than it is”
Sainz, reflecting on the incident after the race, expressed disappointment but offered his perspective on the collision.
“I think he started closing the door earlier than I expected and I ultimately locked up and got a bit scared by him closing on me and yeah, we collided,” he said.
“I think the incident looks a lot more bad than what it actually is because in the end it’s just a small lock-up with high consequences, but a pity because we’re coming on a good weekend.”
The Spaniard acknowledged the fine margins in Formula 1 racing, where drivers must balance risk and reward.
“You can always play it safe, no? And bring home the P8 and wonder... Then you always go for a move. Sometimes it works perfectly and it goes smooth,” he explained.
“With Kimi, he was a bit more aggressive, a bit more closing the door, and it was more difficult to get them moved down and then you go home with zero, so this sport is just a very fine balance between just playing it safe, bring home P8 or risking it a bit more to try and bring home the P7 or the P6 and today it didn’t quite work.”
Sainz reiterated his view that the incident appeared worse than it was, suggesting shared responsibility.
“I think the incident looks a lot worse with Kimi than what it is. He starts turning in on me and when I see him turning in, that’s when I lock-up because I realise he’s not seen me or we’re about to crash anyway because he’s closing,” he said.
“I know it looks bad from the outside in terms of the lock-up and the contact, but honestly speaking, with these wide apexes that we have here, we both need to be aware of the racing, and I think in this case we both didn’t do a good job.”
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