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Carlos Sainz was furious after hearing about his post-race penalty at the 2023 F1 Austrian GP. The Spaniard stated that he found out about the penalty while on the plane out of the country.
The Ferrari driver claimed that the sport cannot afford a repeat of the track limits debacle in Austria, hoping for a better experience next year.
With the track staying on the calendar at least till 2030, the sport will have to find a workaround for the issue that plagued a whole bunch of drivers. A shocking total of 47 laps were deleted during qualifying. Also, a whopping 1200 possible track limit infringements were reported over the course of the 71-lap race at the Red Bull Ring.
Carlos Sainz received an additional 10 seconds added to his race time five hours after the conclusion of the race, leaving the Spaniard furious. As a result, the Ferrari driver dropped from P4 to P6 at the end of the race, taking away valuable championship points.
Speaking about the issue, Carlos Sainz told the media in Silverstone:
“I was taking off, I received an email. I [was already] quite upset about the whole day and then suddenly as you’re taking off, you’re going be one hour without your phone and the last thing you read before taking off is [you might be getting a penalty]. So you can imagine how it felt."
Carlos Sainz criticized Ferrari's strategy in Austria
Sainz claims the dubious strategy employed by Ferrari left him looking like a fool in Austria, expressing his disappointment with the Scuderia team.
The Spaniard seemingly had pace over his teammate Charles Leclerc at the start of the race but was told to back off by the team. The 28-year-old was told not to attack Leclerc in the opening stages of the race. He then lost out to Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton after the team double-stacked its drivers under the VSC.
To add insult to injury, the Spaniard received penalties both during and after the race, dropping him to P6 due to track limits.
Carlos Sainz told Fox Sports Premium:
"I had a lot more pace than fourth… being a team player during the first stint and then being compromised like that with a pit stop behind Charles really affected my race. You are being a team player all the time and you have the pace but some decisions by the team leave you like a fool.”
Having won the 2022 F1 British GP in dramatic fashion last year, it will be interesting to watch the Spaniard this weekend in Silverstone.
