Clear Mercedes response to speculation they blocked Carlos Sainz penalty reprieve

Mercedes flatly denied a suggestion which bubbled up that they had moved to prevent Carlos Sainz’s controversial Las Vegas Grand Prix grid penalty from being waived.

The opening practice session at the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix did not even reach the 10-minute mark, a huge bump in the road bringing Sainz to a halt, as it soon became apparent that the concrete seal of a water valve had failed, shattering the Ferrari from underneath.

Among the extensive rebuild was a new battery, which pushed Sainz over his allowance for the season and triggered a 10-place grid drop, even though this had come about due to factors outside of his and Ferrari’s control.

Mercedes did not block Carlos Sainz penalty reprieve

Ferrari pleaded their case to the stewards, who in return said they did not have the authority to scrap the penalty, meaning it stood, much to Sainz’s disbelief.

Sky F1 commentator David Croft said that as per his information, one team had rejected the chance for the stewards to explore this route, with strong hints made that Mercedes, who are battling Ferrari for P2 in the Constructors’ Championship, were the team in question.

2009 World Champion Jenson Button and Karun Chandhok, both on Sky punditry duties, said teams should have agreed to special dispensation for Sainz and Ferrari.

“The thing that I don’t get, I know that it’s a regulation, but I mean, could not all the teams agree that they should get a pass?” Button asked.

Chandhok replied: “I agree. It’s ridiculous.

“I can’t think of any precedents where a circuit issue has caused a chassis change during the practice phase of a weekend. And not just chassis change, but actually the battery is the point of the penalty.

“And therefore I come back to agree with Jenson, that there could have been perhaps a dispensation signed by all the other teams or something. In this context, I think that would have been the fair thing to do.”

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Sky’s pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz would receive a reply from Mercedes, who dismissed the hint thrown their way as unfounded “speculation”, clarifying why they could not have put the wheels in motion to block a Sainz penalty reprieve anyway.

“I’ve reached out to Mercedes [to ask] is it the case that you would have or could have objected to a Sainz derogation for that penalty?” Kravitz began.

“They said, ‘No, absolutely not, purely speculative. The precedent is that even when it’s not the driver or team’s fault, you carry the penalty and the rules don’t allow for discretion to be applied’, as the steward explained.

“Mercedes’ point was that they would not have been in a position to object to any derogation. Their only position would have been if the rules had been incorrectly applied and some derogation or allowance would have been made for Sainz.

“Then, I think Mercedes would have objected to that and probably some other teams as well, because you can’t have the rules being incorrectly applied, can you?”

McLaren would have supported Carlos Sainz penalty reprieve

Button was confident that the other teams “would have signed” off special dispensation for Sainz, with McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown confirming that his team would have been in support of such action.

And going forward, he sees scope for alterations to the regulations to allow for such flexibility with penalties when the matter is beyond the control of team and driver.

Asked if McLaren would have supported a method for the teams to waive Sainz’s penalty, Brown replied: “Yeah, for sure.

“You’ve got to say that’s force majeure, nothing of their own doing, a very unfortunate, unique incident.

“I was a bit surprised to see that. A little bit unfair. I think we need to be a bit more sporting when something like that happens. So, I was a little surprised by that and we would support them not getting the penalty.”

Mercedes hold an advantage of 20 points over Ferrari going into the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

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