Kravitz says FIA's 'fundamental inconsistency' to blame for Sainz frustration

Lauren Sneath
Wednesday 5 April 2023 18:00

Ted Kravitz has explained that a 'fundamental inconsistency' in the application of rules is what frustrated Carlos Sainz after his penalty at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver tagged Fernando Alonso on the first lap of the second restart, sending him into a spin and causing Sainz to collect a five-second time penalty. The penalty, coupled with the fact that the race finished under the safety car, dropped him from fourth to 12th.

The 28-year-old was furious with the result, and pleaded with his team to allow him to speak to the stewards after the race.

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Kravitz said: “He was in tears, if you listen to the team radio at the end of the race.”

“I think Sainz’s point was it was lap one," Kravitz explained, "where there's always a little bit more leniency, and if you penalise me for that then you have to penalise Lance Stroll for taking out my teammate, even though it wasn't really Lance's fault - but then, it wasn’t really my fault.

“And you have to penalise Pierre Gasly for taking out Esteban Ocon, which wasn't really either of their fault, because it was a racing incident because Gasly came on and didn't see Ocon. That was Sainz’s point, that that there is a fundamental inconsistency.”

Vasseur: stewards need to 'take time'

Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur has criticised the decision-making process by the FIA, saying they need to “take time” over incidents.

Kravitz noted that Sainz wanted to wait on the decision until he had spoken with the stewards and with Alonso.

“I think he's putting it quite strongly," he admitted, "but he was emotional – you can understand why – and crucially, they didn't listen to what he had to say. He wanted to be able to go to the stewards, explain what was going on, to hear from Fernando...

“But it would have depended if Sainz was still in it and if it was a happy Fernando, because if Fernando was still on the podium and Carlos going in P4 then I think Fernando would have said, 'Well you know I see a point and maybe there's no harm there'.

“But if they had decided to do the Hulkenberg favouring podium restarting order for red flag three...you would have still had the angry Fernando who would have sunk Sainz and said, ‘Absolutely he deserves a penalty.’”

READ MORE: Kravitz laments 'missed opportunity' for Red Bull at Australian GP