Sainz furious over grid penalty: 'You won't see me happy this weekend'

Carlos Sainz heard the stewards' verdict in disbelief after the FIA put him on the spot for exceeding the number of engine parts allowed. The Ferrari driver finds it incomprehensible that no rule exempts a driver or team from penalties when it is not their fault.

Sainz hit a loose water valve cover at the Las Vegas Street Circuit in the early stages of the first free practice session, causing major damage to his Ferrari. Even though the incident happened completely through no fault of his own, the stewards had no choice but to apply the penalty. However, they did make the note that there were extenuating circumstances but that the regulations simply do not allow a Formula 1 driver to be exempt from punishment.

Sainz full of disbelief over grid penalty Las Vegas GP

Due to extensive damage to the chassis and some engine components, Ferrari was forced to replace the chassis, internal combustion engine (ICE), energy store (ES) and control electronics (CE). As a result, Sainz is down to his third ES of this F1 season, where two are allowed. Sky Sports reported that nine out of 10 teams were in favour of an exemption, but that proposal did not pass.

Sainz was able to take part in the delayed FP2, but that was cold comfort for the 29-year-old Spaniard. "You can clearly see this weekend we are relatively competitive as I think that the track layout is suiting us a bit more compared to the last few, and we seem to be switching on the tyres well over one lap. So I was quite excited and optimistic," Sainz told F1TV.

"Unfortunately, as the session finished the team communicated to me that I was taking a 10-place grid penalty, for something that I have no fault and the team has no fault. This has obviously completely changed my mindset and my opinion on how the weekend is going to go from now on. You can obviously imagine how disappointed and in disbelief with the situation I am, and you will not see me very happy this weekend," continued a furious Sainz.

He acknowledges that there will be chances to overtake, but that does not take away from the fact that the Ferrari driver will have to start the Las Vegas Grand Prix with a hefty deficit. "What happened today for me is a very clear example of how this sport can be improved in so many ways," he explained.

"FIA, teams, rules that could clearly be applied as force majeure for me not to take a penalty, but somehow people always (find) some ways to make the situation worse for an individual and I think in this case it’s my turn to pay the price," Sainz said.