Sainz Penalized: Grid Penalty for Mexican GP Due to Collision with Antonelli

AUSTIN, Texas – Carlos Sainz will face a five-place grid penalty at the Mexican Grand Prix, following an incident at the United States Grand Prix. The Williams driver was penalized for a collision with Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes during Sunday’s race. The incident occurred when Sainz was trying to overtake Antonelli at turn 15 to take seventh position. Sainz locked the brakes, which caused contact between both vehicles. Sainz was forced to retire from the race due to the damage suffered by his single-seater. Antonelli, for his part, fell in the classification, although he finally managed to recover to thirteenth position. According to the Driving Standards Guidelines used by the stewards to assess collisions, Sainz was deemed responsible for the incident. He received a 10-second penalty and two points on his super license.

Because Sainz did not finish the race, the time penalty was transformed into a five-place grid penalty for the Mexican Grand Prix.

Car 55 [Sainz] attempted an overtake on the inside of car 12 [Antonelli] at turn 15 and a collision occurred between the two cars at the apex.

Stewards’ statement

In the stewards’ statement, it was detailed that Sainz argued that he expected Antonelli to leave him space at the apex, but that Antonelli turned in earlier than expected, forcing Sainz to lock the brakes to avoid a collision. Sainz suggested that Antonelli should have anticipated the overtaking attempt and left space. However, the stewards determined that, at no point before the apex, was the front axle of car 55 alongside or ahead of the mirror of car 12. Therefore, according to the Driving Standards Guidelines, car 55 was not entitled to be given space at the apex. The stewards concluded that Sainz was primarily at fault for the collision and applied the corresponding penalty.