It was a 30minute-long roller-coaster for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz during the first-ever F1 sprint. He had had a decent qualifying session on Saturday, which soon turned chaotic on the very first lap of the sprint.
And now, following the eventful session, Sainz will have a busy afternoon ahead, with Stewards’ hearings scheduled for three different incidents. However, it looks like Sainz could be let off with warnings rather than falling trap to grid penalties ahead of the main race.
Why is Carlos Sainz meeting up with the stewards?
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Of course, two of the hearings are related to the lap 1 incident with George Russell; Sainz tried to beat the Briton around the outside of turn 6.
However, Russell left no room for Sainz and ended up tapping the latter off the track. Sainz had to drive through the grass and rejoined around the exit of turn 7. The stewards immediately took note of the incident, but later revealed that the investigation will take place after the race.
🗣️ | @vkhorounzhiy
"Carlos Sainz Jr will be a busy boy in the next half-hour. He has three successive stewards' hearings – with George Russell about the crash, then about his rejoining, and about a "practice start procedure".#BritishGP | #F1Sprint
— The Race (@wearetherace) July 17, 2021
While the first hearing is solely for the incident between the two drivers, the other is regarding Sainz’s unsafe way of rejoining the track. Sainz apparently made a scary re-entry onto the track, that could have led to chaos with fast-approaching cars from behind.
Finally, although unclear, the third hearing is surrounding Sainz’s practice start procedure, according to The Race. However, Sainz isn’t alone in this, as both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will be joining the Ferrari driver.
Can Sainz recover on Sunday’s main F1 race?
Charles Leclerc showed the kind of pace Ferrari had to offer during the F1 sprint. The Monegasque dominated the mid-field pack quite impressively to finish in P4. Meanwhile, there was Sainz, who ended up colliding with Russell and fell back to P15.
However, the Spaniard kept his head high and fought his way through the field to claim P11, finishing just behind Esteban Ocon. Hence, considering where he was after lap 1, the end result is definitely something to cherish about.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
The contact between Russell & Sainz 👀
Both are under investigation – Russell for the contact itself, and Sainz for his rejoin after 😬#F1 #F1Sprint #BritishGP 🇬🇧pic.twitter.com/VpojqQXEWv
— Autosport (@autosport) July 17, 2021
Of course, it’s going to be quite tough for Sainz to claim a top 5 finish in the race. But who knows? The Spaniard could pull off another Styrian GP to claim handy points for Ferrari.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
So, can Sainz manage to secure points at the British GP or will his hopes be sabotaged by potential grid penalties from the stewards?
Watch Story: What Are Sprint Races & Where Will They Be Held?