During the qualifications of the Chinese Grand Prix, in Q2 Carlos Sainz, after losing his car on the curb of the last corner and ending up in the gravel, slipped to the barriers on the starting straight. An accident that resulted in a red flag, but from which the Spaniard managed to remain unharmed, as did the SF-24, which left after about a minute. Sainz then managed to finish the session and stay in the fight in Q3, finishing the qualifying in seventh position. A result which, although disappointing, was contested by Aston Martin who, having challenged the regulations, requested the exclusion of the Spaniard from the session. Let's see the reason for Aston Martin's complaint against Sainz but above all the FIA's decision.
The reasons for Aston Martin's complaint towards Sainz
The Aston Martin protest ago reference toarticle 39.6 of the sporting regulations, which shows that: “A driver whose car stops on the track during the qualifying session or sprint shootout will not be allowed to participate further in that session.” Carlos Sainz stopped but after the accident he managed to restart, return to the pits for repairs and resume qualifying once the red flag was lifted. In this case there are a couple of things to take into account:
- the fact that Sainz appeared on the time monitors as “STOP” because he stopped on the track due to the red flag
- the fact that he actually stopped on the track. From the videos, the Spanish driver does not appear to have stopped on the track but rather on the grass.
- the fact that it then restarted after a systems reset
- the possible penalty for this given that the FIA can decide what type of penalty to give and whether to remove the time from Q2 and therefore link it to P15 or whether to send it directly to P20.
The real motivation, however, seems to be of a more personal nature, since Fernando Alonso's Sprint was compromised by the accident with Sainz. In fact, the Spaniard from Aston Martin had to withdraw following a puncture. Furthermore, the FIA gave him a 10 second penalty, deducting 3 points from his super licence. Evidently this decision was not digested by the team who wanted to "take revenge" by bringing Sainz's case in qualifying to the attention of the commissioners.
The decision of the FIA, no penalty for Sainz
After listening to both sides, with representatives of both teams, Aston Martin and Ferrari, the FIA announced its decision: “It is clear that the text of the art. 39.6 suggests that as long as a car “stops” on the track during a qualifying session, it should not be allowed to participate further in the session. However, from the examples cited by some team managers present and by the FIA, it became clear that this rule had not been applied in the past. As long as the car is able to restart and continue from a stopping position within a reasonable time, this is normally permitted.”
The typical time is around 30 seconds, although this varies depending on the circumstances. The teams themselves said they had previously attempted to agree what they considered a reasonable time before a car would be considered “farm“. Unfortunately, they were unable to reach a definitive agreement on the maximum time allowed. In the absence of clear indications in the regulations or an agreed and consolidated practice establishing when too long is too long, we felt that this was a discretion best left to race management. We took into consideration the examples of Canada, Monaco and Baku, where the cars hadstops” (and therefore they would have violated article 39.6). But they were allowed to continue taking part in the session, without any complaints from the teams.”
Sainz therefore holds the seventh position achieved in qualifying.
