Damon Hill calls out Carlos Sainz for crashing Fernando Alonso at the Australian GP, says he copied Lewis Hamilton
Damon Hill believes Carlos Sainz deserved the five second penalty.
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Damon Hill. Carlos Sainz. Lewis Hamilton. Images via TOI, Daily Express and Forbes.
Carlos Sainz had one of his worst career moments in F1 at the Australian Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver was served a five-second penalty due to a collision with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. The incident took place on Lap 57 after the restart. According to Sainz, it was an unfair penalty. However, a former F1 world champion disagrees. Damon Hill feels that the stewards were right to punish Sainz.
Damon Hill criticized Carlos Sainz for his move on Lap 57. He called it identical to the move Lewis Hamilton made on Max Verstappen, during the first start of the race. The collision between Sainz and Alonso caused the latter to spin and push him behind. It brought out another red flag. Fortunately for the Aston Martin driver, his third place was reinstated.
Damon Hill spoke to the F1 Nation podcast about the incident. “I’m sorry, but I think it was Carlos’ mistake. He went in too deep and he used up too much track, and there wasn’t really much more Fernando could do to get out of the way. You don’t go in too deep and get yourself in a compromised position. It was almost identical to the move Lewis did on Max, and Lewis got through.”
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Carlos Sainz disagrees with the FIA’s decision to penalise him
After Carlos Sainz was informed of the penalty, he expressed frustration over the radio. He was furious. The Ferrari driver labeled it “the biggest disgrace” he had ever seen in the sport. Sainz confessed it was the most unfair penalty he’d ever seen in his life. He was backed by his fellow Spaniard. Fernando Alonso, the man involved in the collision, stated that the punishment was “too harsh.”
There was a last restart of the race after Sainz brought out the red flag. The order from Lap 56 was reinstated. The Lap 57 events were discarded. But, Carlos Sainz was hit with a penalty. Damon Hill had an explanation for this. “That’s a good point to make – if that race never happened, then why can you get a penalty for a race that never happened? But I think that they will say that anytime a car is on track, they have the right to impose a penalty. If it’s a free practice session, it doesn’t count for anything else, [but] they can still apply a penalty to you.”
After the race, the FIA formally clarified why the Ferrari driver was handed the five-second penalty and 2 penalty points. They determined that car No.55 was wholly to blame for the collision. According to their statement, Fernando Alonso was way ahead of Sainz at the first corner, but the 25-year-old drove into his Aston Martin and caused it to spin and leave the track. The FIA concluded the statement by reminding Ferrari that they have the right to appeal the stewards’ decisions according to Article 15 of the sporting code. However, it should be done within the time frame specified.
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Sugantha Meena
(493 Articles Published)