Ferrari’s demand as private chat with Las Vegas GP stakeholders looms
Carlos Sainz was fortunate not to be seriously hurt when he hit a manhole cover.
Fred Vasseur will have a private chat with the Las Vegas Grand Prix stakeholders as Ferrari want compensation after a track defect wrecked Carlos Sainz’s SF-23.
In a time of budget caps, the Scuderia were left facing a hefty repair bill when Sainz hit a loose water valve cover, the metal part destroying the floor of his car as well as the chassis and even breaking the seat.
It also damaged engine components with the driver needing a new power unit, control electronics, and energy store, which meant a 10-place grid penalty for the Spaniard.
Fred Vasseur: There will be a discussion
Vasseur wants the Las Vegas stakeholders to foot the repair bill.
“There is no provision in the budget or cost cap, for excluding the crashes,” the Frenchman told the media.
“For sure you have a lot of extra costs. The loom was damaged, the gearbox was damaged, the battery was damaged, the engine is dead.
“We have a lot of consequences on the financial side, on the sporting side, and even on the stock of spare parts, and on the budget side for sure it’s not an easy one.”
“There will be a discussion,” he added.
But, he concedes: “The decision, it’s another thing.”
Back in 2017, the organisers of the Malaysian Grand Prix compensated Haas when a loose manhole cover damaged Romain Grosjean’s car.
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Vasseur disappointed with late red flag call
But it’s not just the price of Sainz’s crash that Vasseur was to discuss.
The team boss is also unhappy that the marshals took “one minute” to change the yellow flag to a red when they’d already seen metal debris on the track.
“We’d have to discuss about the circumstances of the incident also,” he said. “Because it’s not just about the cover coming out, it’s also for me that we had one minute between the yellow flag and the red flag.
“It means that when they put the yellow flag that they saw something on track. And they took one minute before they put the red flag. I think it’s too much.
“The main issue for me on this case is that when you put the first yellow flag it means that you saw something, you don’t put the yellow flag by anticipation.
“It means that the guy who put the yellow flag, and put the yellow flag also on my board, which is coming from the race control, it means that they saw something, and then they took one minute before they put the red flag when it’s the straight line, and you have a metallic part, and you are at 340 kph.”
He revealed the teams did not receive a message informing them of debris on the track.
“No, they didn’t speak at all. We didn’t know the reason for the yellow flag,” he said.
Sainz started the Grand Prix 12th on the grid and recovered to finish P6, leapfrogging Fernando Alonso for fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship.
If he holds onto fourth at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, that will be his best-ever finish in the standings.
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