FIA hits Carlos Sainz with post-race penalty following Antonelli incident

Carlos Sainz has been hit with a post-race penalty following his Lap 7 tangle with Kimi Antonelli in the United States Grand Prix.

Sainz was an early retirement after he tagged the Mercedes driver, terminally damaging the front-right corner of his Williams in the process.

Carlos Sainz penalised for early tangle with Kimi Antonelli

The pair had been battling at Turn 15 in the early stages of the race when Sainz attempted to move underneath Antonelli, wounding his Williams as they made contact.

Officials noted at the time that they’d investigate the incident post-race, and have since delivered their verdict.

That has seen Sainz handed a five-place grid penalty for the Mexico City Grand Prix next weekend.

“Car 55 attempted an inside overtake on Car 12 at Turn 15 and a collision between the two cars occurred at the apex,” the stewards’ summary noted.

“The driver of Car 55 maintained that he had expected the driver of Car 12 to leave him space at the apex but Car 12 turned in early and Car 55 locked brakes when it became clear that a collision was unavoidable.

“He suggested that the Driver of Car 12 ought to have anticipated an overtake attempt by Car 55 and left space to avoid contact.

“However, at no point prior to the apex was the front axle of Car 55 alongside or ahead of the mirror of Car 12.

“Therefore, according to the Driving Standards Guidelines, Car 55 had not earned a right to be left space at the apex. The Stewards therefore determine that the Driver of Car 55 was predominatly (sic) to blame for the collision and a penalty is applied accordingly.

“As the driver to be penalized did not finish the race a grid penalty equalling a 10 seconds time penalty is imposed.”

Typically, an in-event clash would lead to an in-event penalty. But given Sainz had retired from the race, it has been converted into a grid penalty instead, as is laid out in the FIA’s penalty guidelines document.

It’s not the first time Sainz has been penalised under the driving guidelines, though he successfully appealed a ruling in Zandvoort which left him with a time penalty and points on his Super Licence.

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