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Carlos Sainz recently released a statement after the FIA did not agree to review the penalty he received in the 2023 F1 Australian GP for hitting Fernando Alonso at the second race restart.
Though there were several incidents that took place in the first lap of the second race restart, only Sainz was handed a five-second time penalty, causing him to finish the race in 12th place.
A few days after the race, Ferrari raised a 'right to review' appeal to the FIA with several pieces of evidence to prove that Sainz did not deserve the penalty. Though the governing body acknowledged the review, they did not retract the penalty. Sainz released a statement on his Instagram stories and Twitter account reacting to the FIA's decision in which he wrote:
"Very disappointed that the FIA did not grant us a right to review."
He added:
"Two weeks later, I still think the penalty is too disproportionate and I believe it should have at least been reviewed on the basis of the evidence and reasoning we have presented. We have to continue working together to improve certain things for the future. The consistency and decision making process has been a hot topic for many seasons now and we need to be clearer for the sake of our sport. What happened in Australia is now in the past and I am 100% focused on the next race in Baku."
Usually, most of the collisions that happen during the first lap of the race are simply marked as racing incidents. Cars are usually bunched up together and drivers can collide with each other if there is no space left for them to drive. However, Carlos Sainz received a penalty for colliding with Alonso, even though the collision did not hamper the veteran's race.
Carlos Sainz got emotional on the team radio after receiving a penalty in the 2023 F1 Australian GP
After Carlos Sainz learned that he received a five-second penalty for hitting Fernando Alonso in the 2023 F1 Australian GP, he immediately went on to the team radio to speak to his team. He urged Ferrari to stall the penalty and expressed his raw emotions. In a shaky voice, he said:
"Please guys, do something. Please, I cannot still believe it. We are P3 and P4, and they took me out of the points for that, for a one lap incident. So unfair, I cannot believe they do this to me. ... Let me at least discuss (it) with the stewards in the stewards' room."
Despite Carlos Sainz and Ferrari urging the stewards to stall the penalty and discuss it after the race, the FIA upheld their decision to punish the Spaniard.
