Sainz Destroys Mercedes: 'Very Happy To Finish Ahead Of Those Who Wanted Me To Be Penalized'
F1Tuesday, 21 November 2023 at 10:00
Updated at Tuesday, 21 November 2023 at 13:26
Carlos Sainz finished the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend by having a dig at Mercedes for wanting him penalized after a controversial FP1 incident.
The Scuderia Ferrari F1 driver Carlos Sainz made a decent recovery during Saturday's race at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit after starting from the 12th position on the grid.
What's more, the Spanish driver had an incident in turn one during the first lap of the race, which set him back even more, so he practically started from P17.
His team principal, Frederic Vasseur, thought he did a good job after having to fight his way through all the way from the back of the grid.
Ferrari team had a very strong pace throughout the Las Vegas weekend and managed to close the point gap to the Mercedes down to only four points in the fight for second place in the Constructors' Championship.
However, the Italian team could have had even a better result in the Sin City had it not been for the controversial 10-place grid penalty that Carlos Sainz received after the FP1 session.
While he could have scored more points in the race without the penalty, Carlos Sainz seemed to be happy with his result as he took a sly dig at the Mercedes team.
As quoted by Sportsmanor, the Spanish driver said after the race: "I'm very happy to finish ahead of those who wanted me to be penalized."
Sainz hinted that the Mercedes F1 team wanted him penalized for having to replace the engine that got damaged by a loose manhole cover in the FP1.
It seemed vary unfair for the Ferrari driver to receive the 10-place grid penalty for an incident that was outside his and his team's power. According to Racefans he also said:
"For sure there will be rival teams pushing for me to get a penalty which surprises me in a way. In another [way], I’ve been in the sport for too long to understand that this business…"
Rival in Formula One will often do everything in their power to help their own situation, so in this case, it might make sense from Mercedes's point of view to push for Sainz's penalty, who seemed to be a lot faster and presented a threat to the team.
The second team in the Constructors' Championship gets more prize money than the third one, and we are not talking about a couple thousand dollars here. Sainz explained.
"There’s too much money involved in the finishing position in the constructors’ or whatever for a team not to threaten to apply for a penalty for me."
The battle for second place in the Championship will then be resolved in the final race of the season - the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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