The decisions of the Formula 1 stewards continue to re-arbitrate the races once they have concluded. It happened again at the Miami Grand Prix, in which Lando Norris defeated Max Verstappen to achieve his first victory in F1 after 110 races. On this occasion, the loser was Carlos Sainz, who had achieved a creditable fourth place: he dropped one step, to fifth place, due to a ridiculous penalty.
Hours after the race ended, the stewards penalized Carlos Sainz with 5 seconds for damaging Piastri’s wing in their battle on lap 40. In this way, the Madrid driver lost his fourth position and was relegated to fifth place, benefiting of Sergio Pérez, who went up to fourth.
This was the resolution of the race stewards: “Given the circumstances, we consider that car 55 is the main culprit for the collision. In this case, we take into account, as mitigating factors, the fact that, except for the slight loss of control of the rear by car 55, the collision probably would not have occurred and it would have been a tough but good fight.
That is to say, the stewards, with the phrase “If it had not been for the slight loss of the rear of the car”, admit that Sainz did not have any voluntariness in the contact with Piastri, so they punish the fight that they did allow to have. the Australian with the Madrid native during the race, in which they did not intervene (it happened on lap 40 of 57).
Thus, the stewards conclude: “The standard penalty for collision is 10 seconds with 2 penalty points. Therefore, in light of the extenuating circumstances, a 5 second penalty with 1 penalty point is imposed [on the Super Pilot License].”
The sanction means that Sainz adds two fewer points (from 12 to 10), so he now ties at 84 points with Lando Norris, who advances him one place in the drivers’ World Championship. Now Sainz is fifth and his English friend is fourth.
Ferrari also loses two points in the Constructors’ World Championship in favor of Red Bull.