McLaren fined for Sainz unsafe release

Carlos Sainz surprised by strong qualifying performance.
McLaren have been fined €5000 for releasing driver Carlos Sainz from the pits in an unsafe manner during the Italian Grand Prix.
Sainz was running comfortably in P6 when he came in to change tyres. However, the right front was not attached properly, causing him to retire from the race.
In line with their regulations, the stewards judged it to be an unsafe release, saying the following:
“The stewards determined that the car was released in an unsafe condition in breach of Article 28.13 c) of the FIA Formula 1 Sporting Regulations.
“We note that the driver stopped the car as soon as the problem with the right front wheel became evident.”
With their closest rivals Renault taking a huge points haul, it turned out to be a poor weekend for McLaren.
“It’s a shame because sixth-place looked more or less secured the ways things were going today,” Sainz said to Autosport.com.
“The Renaults were faster and [Alex] Albon couldn’t pass me when he caught me with the soft tyre and I thought he would be faster with the mediums.
“I had some problems after the contact with Albon. We lost a piece at the back of the car and we were losing two or three tenths per lap, but everything was going well. Then came the pitstop and it was a bit of chaos and there was a bit of a misunderstanding and we couldn’t make it.”
Nevertheless, Sainz refused to criticise the pit-crew despite their mistake.
“The pitstops and the strategy have been very good this year,” he added.
“Today maybe we lost eight points because of it, but we’ve gained a lot more points thanks to strategy and pitstops this year than we lost today, so it’s time to analyse, to learn what we could have done better, but we don’t need to be too sad.”
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