Carlos Sainz frustrated after penalty for 'saving a life'

Dutch Grand Prix

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Sainz frustrated after penalty for 'saving a life'

Sainz was unimpressed with his five-second penalty

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Sunday 4 September 2022 18:00 Updated: 00:16

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Carlos Sainz has claimed he was penalised for 'saving someone's life' at the Dutch Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver endured a torrid 72 laps at Zandvoort with a multitude of issues, including two during pit stops.

Sainz initially dropped down the pecking order with the Scuderia mechanics unprepared for his first stop after a late call to box - a scenario team principal Mattia Binotto labelled "a mess".

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At a later stop during the late safety car period after Valtteri Bottas stopped on track, Sainz was released into the path of Alpine's Fernando Alonso when trying to negotiate the tight pit lane.

After seeing a replay whilst behind the wheel, Sainz pleaded his innocence and labelled any forthcoming penalty as "a joke".

"We ran into all sorts of trouble in the race and we need to analyse why because it cost us a lot of points," said Sainz.

Explaining why he felt his release was not worthy of a penalty, the Spaniard added: "I saw it in the car, by the time they released me it was clearly safe with Fernando but then I had to hit the brakes to not hit a McLaren mechanic who ran in my exit line.

"It was this braking that generated the unsafe release - if you can call it unsafe because I was clearly frustrated by it. I thought I had saved someone's life and not generated a dangerous situation."

Sainz accuses Alonso of 'exaggerating' contact

Alonso has long been regarded as one of the savviest drivers when it comes to handling the FIA.

Suggesting his compatriot had overplayed the incident in order to guarantee a punishment, Sainz insisted: "He hit me because I had to brake because I had a McLaren mechanic in my way.

"You need to analyse every situation and by the time I was released by the mechanics, he was pretty far behind.

"The problem was this McLaren mechanic with a jack that ran into my driving line, I had to brake and I didn't get my pit exit right. Is it my fault? Is it my team's fault? No.

"Some guy with a jack at McLaren who ran into my driving line, I had to hit my brakes and I am sure Fernando also exaggerated a bit, hitting me to try and get me a penalty."