Ferrari had requested an exemption, given that the damage to the car was caused by an external circumstance. However, the FIA explained that the regulation is written in such a way as not to provide for exceptions
It’s Murphy’s law: if something can get worse, it will. Testing it out on his own skin this Friday in Formula 1 in Las Vegas (Thursday in the United States) is Carlos Sainz. The Spanish driver, in the first free practice session, passed over a manhole which heavily damaged his car. A situation that led to the definitive interruption of the session and the postponement of FP2. The passage over the manhole forced the Maranello team to change the survival cell, the engine, the battery pack and the control unit of Sainz’s SF-23. In particular, the replacement of the battery pack, with the Ferrari who will mount the third unit on the “55” single-seater, will cause the Spanish driver to incur a 10-place grid penalty. In fact, the number of units foreseen for this component by regulation is 2 throughout the season. Ferrari’s request for an exemption was of no avail.
the explanation fia
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In the official document, the race commissioners confirmed what was said in these hours, that is, that the damage to Sainz’s car was due to external circumstances and not to the negligence of the team or the driver, rather than to failure. However, the Federation underlined that the regulation is written in such a way as not to provide for exceptions. Therefore, Cavallino’s Spanish standard-bearer will be forced to start from the back, despite the unpredictability and inevitability of what happened to him.