Although the Las Vegas GP started off with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton fighting over Vegas being a fun track Daniel Ricciardo took his time to defend Carlos Sainz against the FIA rules. While Vegas started off with a lot of hype surrounding it, the excitement soon died down with fans being escorted out.
The Las Vegas GP started their sessions this Thursday with the hopes of having the best first-ever Vegas outing. However, it all went in vain as the FP2 was delayed and fans were seen leaving the arena with no more patience left in them.
Carlos Sainz faced one of his nightmares this season after being the only driver to win a race this season apart from Red Bull. However, with hopes of having one of the best F1 outings and a possible front row for Ferrari after his incredible qualifying, the driver’s patience was put to the test yet again.
Sainz is given a grid penalty for his Saturday Las Vegas race which caused a ruckus among the drivers. The penalty was given after Sainz got a new engine in turn crossing the limit of engines in the car which caused many drivers to be angry while Daniel Ricciardo made sure his anger was heard.
Daniel, on Carlos’s penalty: “That’s not fair. It’s a bit like Brazil – they stick to the rule book for Oscar and I but it’s like, come on.
That one you would think they would take some common sense. So I don’t agree with that one.” pic.twitter.com/q6lJfXpDel
— meredith (@mereeedithh) November 17, 2023
The AlphaTauri driver talked about Sainz’s penalty and the unfair rules that were being applied to the incident. He said, “That’s not fair. It’s a bit like Brazil – they stick to the rule book for Oscar and me but it’s like, come on. That one you would think they would take some common sense. So I don’t agree with that one.”
The Australian asked FIA to use some common sense before playing by the rule book.
Carlos Sainz comments on the grid penalty that put him in a bad mood
Carlos Sainz left the Las Vegas sessions with a heavy heart after having not just one but two of the driver’s nightmares come to life. The Spaniard had joined the FP1 sessions just like any other driver with the hopes of understanding the new layout in the F1 calendar. However, the session went completely sideways as he dragged along a drain lid with him causing a huge hole to open up between the track.
Although the sessions were delayed to fix the track, Sainz and the Ferrari suffered a few damages to the car and needed to change their engine which cost the team yet another penalty this season. Although many drivers believed the penalty was unfair considering the track was not prepared for the race, Sainz was asked to pay the penalty.
What do you make of Carlos Sainz’s grid penalty? 💭 pic.twitter.com/YfuZtVhS9Q
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) November 18, 2023
However, Sainz was not in his best mood this weekend and made his feelings clear. The driver told Sky Sports, “I’m paying tomorrow one of the most unfair penalties I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m going into tomorrow with all the motivation and all the options open. Honestly, it’s just – you’re just not seeing me in a very good mood right now but I think it’s normal. But don’t worry because in the car and when I put my helmet on I always give it absolutely everything, you know, and tomorrow that’s going to be the case again.”, he then added.
While his teammate sits in the pole position despite being unlucky this season, Sainz has ended on the receiving end of the bad luck that has followed Ferrari all season.