Carlos Sainz “Frustrated” As His Superhero Antics Were Rewarded With Damaging F1 Penalty

If there are drivers who are down to their luck in F1 off-late, Carlos Sainz would arguably make that list. The valiant effort in the qualifying was only met with a miserable result for the brilliant Spaniard at Zandvoort. The incidents and their aftermath “frustrated” the Ferrari driver, he revealed.

As the race started, things went the opposite way of what the Spanish driver would have wanted. From tangling with Lewis Hamilton on Lap 1 to getting delayed on a pit stop for 12.7 seconds and picking up a penalty of five seconds, it was clearly not the day of the Ferrari driver.

The five seconds penalty Sainz received was due to an unsafe release on his fellow countryman, Fernando Alonso. However, the Ferrari driver had a reason for this. Talking about the incident, the 28-year-old driver stated, “By the time they released me, it was clearly safe with Fernando.”

“But then I had to hit the brakes to not hit a McLaren mechanic…”

“I was clearly frustrated by it because I thought I had saved someone’s life and not generated a dangerous situation”

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Ferrari, who were hunting for a win, was once again were leapfrogged by Max Verstappen. As for Sainz, he started from an impressive P3 to finish in a rather hapless P8, citing multiple reasons that were beyond his control.

How did the Dutch Grand Prix turn out for Carlos Sainz?

The first lap at Zandvoort saw Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari get a knock from Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. However, neither of the cars was harmed. The first turning point in the race for the Ferrari driver came on lap 15 when he was asked to pit for a new set of tires.

The pit stop took Sainz a disappointing 12.7 seconds, as the crew wasn’t fully ready with the tires. By the time Sainz’s left rear tire was set, the Ferrari driver was well behind the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. From there on, it was a hard nut to crack for Carlos Sainz to hold on to the podium spot.

It was not all for the Spaniard, as the second pit stop also posed difficulty for him. Even though the pit stop went smoothly, the 28-year-old driver was left directly on the path of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso. The stewards noted the incident down and handed the former McLaren driver a five seconds time penalty.

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With the safety car in place, the cars lined up one after another, having a little distance between them. There came a time when the time penalty could have put Carlos Sainz out of points’ position. However, Sainz showed character at the very end and finally fetched a P8 position after serving the time penalty at the Dutch Grand Prix.