The FIA has backtracked after handing one Formula 1 driver a grid penalty days before the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend even begins. It came as a result of the Bahrain Grand Prix stewards initially believing that a time penalty handed out during that race had not been properly served.
The Bahrain race was a busy one for the stewards with several penalties handed out during the race for a range of rule-breaks from different drivers. And their work was not done when the chequered flag flew with a couple of issues still to iron out.
They had to investigated George Russell who had used his DRS system at a time when it was not allowed but decided, because he had atoned for that and with his actions on track, no penalty was necessary and the Mercedes driver kept second place.
Then there was the rather more straightforward business of disqualifying Nico Hulkenberg after his car failed post-race technical checks. And there was also a rather curious document that they issued stating Carlos Sainz would get a three-place grid drop for the next race in Jeddah.
The Spaniard was given a 10-second time penalty during the Bahrain race for forcing Kimi Antonelli off track. He pitted to serve the penalty and then his Williams team chose to retire the car, given it had extensive damage to the sidepod and also the front wing from an earlier collision with Yuki Tsunoda.
The stewards clearly initially believed that Sainz had not properly served his time penalty and so issued that decree that he would carry over a three-place grid drop for the next race. However, there was video evidence that proved he was stationary in his pit box for the required amount of time and so that grid drop has now been cancelled.
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Sainz will feel some after-effect of his on-track actions in Bahrain, though. For his skirmish with Antonelli, the stewards deemed it appropriate to place two points on his licence, meaning he now has three to his name over the last 12 months.
He wasn’t in the bad books of the stewards nearly as often as Liam Lawson, though. The Racing Bulls driver had a very scrappy race and accumulated 15 seconds’ worth of time penalties for multiple incidents.
And he also saw three penalty points added to his licence. That means the Kiwi now has five to his name and is almost halfway towards the 12-point threshold which triggers an automatic one-race ban for any driver that reaches that figure within a single 12-month period.
Lando Norris was another penalised during the Bahrain race, forced to serve a five-second penalty before his first pit stop because he was not fully within his grid box at the start. Jack Doohan had a similar amount added to his race time because he exceeded track limits too many times.
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