Sainz Penalized: Drops 5 Places on the Mexican GP Grid Due to Crash

Carlos Sainz Penalized for the Mexican Grand Prix

Spanish driver Carlos Sainz has been penalized with five positions on the starting grid for the Mexican Grand Prix. The penalty is due to an incident that occurred during the United States Grand Prix, where he collided with Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes. The incident occurred when Sainz was trying to overtake Antonelli at Turn 15 to gain seventh position. Upon braking, he locked the wheels and caused the contact. Sainz was forced to abandon the race due to the damage suffered to his car, while Antonelli, although he fell in the classification, managed to recover to thirteenth position. The 10-second time penalty imposed on Sainz during the race was converted into a five-place grid penalty for the next race in Mexico, because he did not finish the competition.

According to the stewards’ statement, Sainz was deemed responsible for the incident, as he had not earned the right to space on the curve’s trajectory.

The driver of car 55 maintained that he expected the driver of car 12 to leave him space at the apex, but car 12 turned in earlier and car 55 locked the brakes when it became apparent that the collision was inevitable.

Stewards’ Statement