"That wasn’t an unsafe release"- Carlos Sainz to take 2022 F1 Dutch GP pit stop penalty matter upstairs

The 2022 F1 Dutch Grand Prix turned out to be an absolute bane for Carlos Sainz and Ferrari. Where he would have finished P5 or above, a nightmare of pit stops led him to stand P8 after the race. Zandvoort has been a race to forget for Carlos Sainz and he is pretty unhappy with the stewards' decision. He plans to escalate the matter and speak with the FIA about the same:

“That wasn’t an unsafe release. I was launched into the pit lane correctly but the problem is that I had to brake to not take a McLaren guy out of his life. Because I took avoiding action, they give you a penalty – I find this very frustrating and I’m going to speak with the FIA now because I don’t understand it.”

Things got messy for Carlos Sainz on the opening lap itself where he made contact with Lewis Hamilton. However, the car didn't sustain any severe damage. The the next bit was during the 14th lap when Sainz was called in for his first pit stop, but the pit crew were supposedly not informed of his arrival. The Ferrari driver had to wait in the pits for 12.5 seconds as the mechanics were looking for the left rear tire in the garage.

A late safety car seemed like a little ray of hope for Carlos Sainz, but it just turned out otherwise. It would have been a smooth pit stop for him as he was safely released back into the pit lane in time, but things went downhill quickly. Fernando Alonso's Alpine was right behind and Sainz got a five-second penalty for what looked like a clear-cut unsafe release. It was later revealed from another angle that the release was actually safe, but Sainz had to slow down to avoid hitting a McLaren mechanic in his exit lane.

Carloz Sainz and the team were pretty frustrated about being penalized for this.

"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."

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Carlos Sainz hinted at Alonso overselling the incident to cause the penalty

Carlos Sainz also blamed Alpine driver Fernando Alonso for exaggerating the incident. Sainz explained the situation and how it was not his or his team's fault and that the penalty could have been done without.

"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. I had to hit my brakes and I am sure Fernando also exaggerated a bit, hitting me to try and get me a penalty.”