MADRID, 17 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) highlighted the “competitive” level of the Scuderia ahead of the weekend in Las Vegas, but regretted the sanction for changing components that were damaged by a poorly placed manhole cover, which which canceled the first free practice session at the American GP.
“An eventful day for us after the problem in FP1 with the manhole cover. However, our mechanics did an incredible job. They basically had to rebuild the entire car before FP2 and thanks to them we managed to complete our program in the second session, so many thanks to all the mechanics,” he said this Friday.
The Madrid driver was the unfortunate protagonist of the fiasco with which the long-awaited event in Las Vegas began, with that manhole cover that destroyed the underside of Sainz’s car. Despite not being at fault for what happened, with damage to the seat, chassis, engine and battery, the FIA sanctioned the Spaniard with 10 places on the grid for the component changes.
“It looks like we are competitive this weekend and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. On the negative side, we were penalized 10 places for Sunday because the manhole cover damaged, among other things, my battery and we had to replace it,” he said.
“Honestly, I can’t understand it and I think it should have been considered an exception to the rule given what happened, but we will have to face it,” added a disgruntled Sainz, who performed on the track in the second free practice with the second best time, behind his partner Charles Leclerc.