Sainz slapped with three-place grid drop for Canada GP
18th June 2023Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz, has been slapped with a three-place grid penalty for the Canadian Grand Prix after he ‘unnecessarily’ impeded Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in qualifying.
Sainz will now start the Canadian Grand Prix in 11th place after he was slapped with a three-place grid penalty which means McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Williams’ Alexander Albon and – Ferrari teammate – Charles Leclerc will all be promoted by one position on the grid.
In the later stages of Q1, Gasly was on a fast lap and approached the final chicane where Sainz was in the middle of preparation for his very own flying lap around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
However, as the Spaniard was about to conduct his fast lap, he was undertaken by Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda who slipped by him. As Sainz did not expect the Alpha Tauri to be there, the Spaniard slowed in the middle of the chicane and ultimately forced Gasly onto the run-off area.
Due to the late nature of the incident, Gasly was not able to improve on his fortunes and was eliminated from Q1 while Sainz was able to progress through to Q2 and Q3 to qualify eighth, prior to the investigation.
In a post-qualifying investigation, the stewards reviewed marshalling systems, data, video, timing and in-car video evidence alongside discussions with both parties of Sainz and Gasly (plus their team representatives).
In conclusion, the officials had decided Sainz impeded Gasly in Q1.
In the report, the stewards said:
“The driver of Car 55 [Sainz] stated that he was surprised that the driver of Car 22 [Tsunoda] overtook him into Turn 13 and as a result he accelerated late to start his fast lap.
“The driver of Car 10 [Gasly] stated that the driver of Car 55 could have and should have ‘gone earlier.’ Telemetry showed a significant speed differential between Cars 55 and 10.
“Although the overtaking move by Car 22 took the driver of Car 55 by surprise, it is our determination that the driver of Car 55 was predominantly to blame and unnecessarily impeded Car 10.”
That’s all for the article: Sainz slapped with three-place grid drop for Canada GP!
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
