Sainz fined for crossing track after crash

After running across the circuit following his accident during Singapore Grand Prix qualifying, Carlos Sainz was fined €25,000 by the stewards, €12,500 of which will be suspended.

Sainz lost control of his Ferrari in the final corner of the circuit as he prepared to start a flying lap and crashed into the barrier on the outside.

The incident resulted in the session being suspended by a red flag, and when Sainz got out of his car he crossed the track to take the fastest route back to Ferrari’s garage.

For safety reasons, drivers are not allowed to cross the track while the session is still live and must obtain permission from a marshal once all cars have returned to the pits.

“The stewards examined video, questioned the marshals and heard from the driver that he crossed without first obtaining permission from a marshal,” the stewards’ statement said.

“The regulations are explicit that this is not permitted and is a potentially very dangerous situation. Further, this was reinforced by the Race Director in a previous drivers’ meeting.

“The stewards accept that Sainz thought that the track was clear because he was after the pit entry and there was a red flag. However, there were still five cars circulating and it was possible that one may make a mistake and not enter the pit lane, or may have entered the pit lane faster than Sainz thought.

“Further, there were potentially other vehicles entering the track that the driver had no knowledge of. The stewards compared this to other penalties that have been given recently, which were given when the track was in race conditions, but under safety car and consider that this is a somewhat less severe case, because of the red flag.

“Further, the driver’s idea that because he was beyond the pit entry is another mitigating circumstance. But in light of the explicit regulation reinforced in prior drivers’ meetings the stewards order the fine which is lower than previous penalties and order half to be suspended for the remainder of the 2024 season, in light of the mitigating circumstances.”

Sainz qualified tenth for Sunday’s race, although if Ferrari makes changes to his car while fixing it, he may be required to start from the pit lane.

Speaking about the incident, the Ferrari driver said he misjudged how much temperature his tyres had lost after moving off the racing line to let other cars pass prior to the final corner

“I had a bit of a strange accident there,” he said. “I had to let a lot of cars through there.

“Opening my lap and my tyres were just a lot colder than I thought they would be. I misjudged the grip going on the bump on Turn 17 and it completely snapped on me. Driving mistake.

“I was already under pressure with another car coming and I knew that launching the lap, I was already going to be slower because of the approach in the last corner was slow. So it meant that I tried to do something when there was not enough grip to do it.”

Source: www.espn.com