"A shame" - Carlos Sainz feels FIA was 'a bit easy' on George Russell after he bumped into him at US GP

Carlos Sainz has said that the FIA was a bit easy on Mercedes' George Russell for the clash between the two drivers at the US GP in Austin last weekend.

The Ferrari driver had secured pole and was in a battle for the lead at the first corner when he was hit from the back by Russell. Sainz spun because of the contact and had to retire, while Russell eventually completed the race.

Talking to Autosport during the Mexican GP build-up, Sainz appreciated Russell for walking straight up to him after the race to apologise. However, he added that the FIFA could have doled out a more stringent punishment to Russell for the collision than the five-second penalty. Sainz said:

“Of course, it always honours the guy who does that straight away after the race. I always respect that. It doesn't mean that I am happy. I think that the FIA also maybe was a bit easy on him for the consequences that happened. I don't think I could have done something very different. I was in the middle of a battle with Max (Verstappen). Max went long and obviously had to brake a lot at the exit of the corner."

Talking about the incident, Sainz explained what happened and why he was so angry. The Ferrari driver said that it was not the kind of incident that's generally seen in the first corner and should not have happened. He said:

“We were both already getting out of the corner while George I think hadn't even done the corner and bumped into me, which is a shame. It's the kind of incident that you expect to see more in the midfield, when there's so many cars around you."

He continued:

"But in the top four, I've never seen that incident happen that often. That's why I was so frustrated after the race. I obviously accepted George's apologies because it was good by him. But yeah, it was nothing I could have done."

Sainz (202) is fifth in the standings — 16 behind fourth-placed Russell — ahead of the Mexican GP tonight (October 30).

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That was one of the toughest moments of the season - Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz said that the collision with Russell was one of the toughest moments of the season for me. That was especially because he was in the fight for a win against Max Verstappen, having started from pole. Sainz said:

“It was one of the toughest moments of the season. Very disappointing, because after doing a perfect weekend up until then for your race to be ruined by something out of your control is really tough. It's been also a few times this year, which makes it particularly frustrating to not do races, because it's what we all go to those places to do."

He continued:

"But it's how it goes sometimes in motorsport, or in life, you go through rough patches and other easier ones. It seems that this year, everything that could happen to me, it's happening. I hope I can get them all out of the way this year for next year to have a smooth one.”

The race in Austin was Sainz's second straight DNF after his first-lap crash at Suzuka.