F1 Australian GP: Frederic Vasseur calls out the FIA for “double standards” after Carlos Sainz’s penalty

Frederic Vasseur called the Carlos Sainz-Fernando Alonso collision a "racing incident", and said that there were "double standards" for such situations.

F1 Australian GP: Frederic Vasseur calls out the FIA for “double standards” after Carlos Sainz’s penalty

Carlos Sainz (L) | Frederic Vasseur (R)

The Australian GP, in the simplest words, was a disaster for Ferrari. The Frederic Vasseur-led outfit took 0 (!) points home from Melbourne. Charles Leclerc retired on the first lap after a turn 3 contact with Lance Stroll meant he beached his car in the gravel. Carlos Sainz, on the other hand, finished fourth on track, but out of the points after a 5-second penalty for “causing a collision” with Fernando Alonso, on the second race restart. After he got news of the penalty, he was clearly not a happy man.

It got out that he was given a 5-second penalty before the final race restart. He exclaimed over the radio: “No, it cannot be, Ricky [Adami]. Do I deserve to be out of the points? No! No, it’s unacceptable! Tell them it is unacceptable! They need to wait until the race is finished and discuss [it] with me.” When told ‘copy’ by his engineer: “No, please, ask them, please, please, please, please, to wait, to wait and discuss [it] with me. Clearly, the penalty is not deserved, it’s too severe.”

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In one of his post-race interviews, he felt that his penalty was the “biggest disgrace of the sport” he’s seen in “many, many years”. He did not want to speak about it until the stewards reverted his penalty, though that has not happened. Even Alonso, the man he hit, felt that the penalty was too harsh. A few weeks ago, Alonso had been given a penalty for incorrectly serving a previous penalty, but it was later reverted. This was used as an example by Frederic Vasseur of “double standards”.

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As per Motorsport.com’s Italian branch, when asked about the “mood” at Ferrari following the Australian GP, Vasseur said: “There is frustration. In the end we did a good job. Carlos had some bad luck with the Safety Car and the red flag which led him to have to recover. Then we collected this penalty. We can argue for hours about this penalty. The frustration comes from the fact that they didn’t give us time to discuss with Carlos to take countermeasures. While last week a different decision was made with Alonso.”

Read More: F1 Australian GP: “Too harsh,” Fernando Alonso disagrees with the stewards on Carlos Sainz’s penalty

Frederic Vasseur: Carlos Sainz-Fernando Alonso collision was a “racing incident”

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur

For what it’s worth, Frederic Vasseur himself thought that the collision between Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso was a racing incident. When asked what he thought of the ‘contact’, he said: “The incident… If you ask everyone in the paddock, 50% will say it’s a normal racing incident, others will say it’s Carlos’s fault. For sure we see it as a racing incident, but the most important thing in a case like this would have been to discuss it with both the pilots and the marshals.”

When asked if there was any possibility that the FIA could ‘re-discuss’ the penalty, the Frenchman said: “I don’t think the FIA ​​can review the penalty to Sainz. We’ll discuss it with the stewards and for me it’s a shame, because there are double standards. Just remember what happened last week with Alonso, with the penalty given and then removed. It would have been enough to wait 5 more minutes and then discuss it.”

Taking 0 points in Australia means that Ferrari are now fourth in the table with 26 points – 97 points behind Red Bull, who currently top the table. Moreover, they’re even 30 points behind Mercedes. A swift recovery is needed. The championship ambitions are far-fetched at this point, but even to secure P2, they have to step it up soon.

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