Carlos Sainz escapes punishment for Miami GP incidents

Carlos Sainz escapes punishment for Miami GP incidents

5th May 2025 0 By Kamron Kent

Williams Racing’s Carlos Sainz has escaped punishment for causing a collision and failing to slow under yellow flags at the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix. 

Feature image credit: Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

Sainz was summoned to the race stewards after the race. The Spaniard allegedly failed to slow under yellow flags and for causing a collision late in the race with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. 

However, following the summons, it was revealed that Sainz would receive a warning and no further action for both respective incidents. 

As such, the Williams driver will remain ninth and maintain Williams’ double-point finish at the Miami GP after Alexander Albon finished fifth.

Failing to slow under yellows

It was confirmed, in the stewards’ report, that Sainz did fail to slow down under yellow flags and the driver admitted that he did not see a yellow flag or stopped car. 

However, it was confirmed by the driver and telemetry that Sainz did lift but after the yellow flagged area, after being informed by the team.

Whilst no one was mentioned for being the stopped car, it is believed to be in relation to Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto who was stopped at an access road – behind the barrier along the back straight. 

It was revealed that the yellow flag was only shown at one marshal post behind a yellow background, and no light panel was present in that area of the circuit. 

The stewards deemed this to be a ‘unique scenario’ which resulted in a warning for the driver. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly also suffered a similar fate and was also warned for his incident. 

Causing a collision

On the last lap of the Miami Grand Prix, Sainz committed to an ambitious move on his former seat, occupied by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, into the final braking zone of turn 17. 

However, the two made contact as Sainz’s right-front tyre brushed up against Hamilton’s rear-left tyre.

In the stewards’ report, it was stated that Sainz was not in a position ‘to have the right to the racing line’ according to the Drivers Standards Guidelines. At that same point, it was believed Hamilton had turned into the corner earlier than he had previously. 

In conclusion, the Stewards deemed no further action was appropriate as ‘no driver is deemed predominantly to blame for the collision.’

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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.

CategoryFormula 1 Formula Series News
TagsCarlos Sainz F1 Formula 1 Lewis Hamilton Miami GP Miami Grand Prix Pierre Gasly Williams Williams Racing

About the author

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.

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