Explained: Why was Carlos Sainz penalized at the 2023 F1 Australian GP?

Carlos Sainz was slapped on the wrist with a five-second penalty at the end of the chaotic 2023 Australian GP. The Spaniard collided with fellow compatriot Fernando Alonso at the red flag restart at the very end of the race.

The race at Albert Park saw its fair share of drama and controversy, with a total of four red flags being waved on Sunday. Sainz was one of the many drivers who lost out this time around in Melbourne, having been awarded a time penalty by the stewards after the third red flag restart on Sunday.

The Ferrari driver failed to leave adequate room on his inside line, barging straight into Fernando Alonso - who was jousting it out with the top two drivers. The FIA claims that the Scuderia driver's actions could have been avoided, justifying their rather harsh penalty for the Spaniard.

The FIA's reasoning behind Carlos Sainz's penalty is as follows:

"We determined that Car 55 was wholly to blame for the collision. Car 14 was significantly ahead of Car 55 at the first corner and nevertheless, Car 55 drove into Car 14, causing it to spin and leave the track."

While stewards are usually lenient towards incidents on the first lap of the race (or restarted races), the FIA judged that Sainz was wholly to blame for the incident. The Scuderia driver dropped out of the points in Australia due to his blunder and scored zero points in Melbourne.

Fernando Alonso defended Carlos Sainz's actions in Australia

Fernando Alonso came to the defense of Carlos Sainz

Aston Martin driver and third-place finisher Fernando Alonso defended Carlos Sainz after the stewards imposed a five-second penalty on the Ferrari driver.

The incident occurred when Sainz and Alonso were battling for the third position after the final restart of a tumultuous race at Melbourne's Albert Park Circuit, resulting in a collision.

Carlos Sainz expressed his displeasure with the stewards' ruling, which caused him to drop from fourth to 12th place, during his post-race interviews.

Alonso also sided with his rival as he told the media after the race:

“Probably the penalty is too harsh because on lap one it is very difficult always to judge what the grip level is and I think we don’t go intentionally into another car because we know that we risk also our car and our final position. So sometimes you end up in places that you wish you were not there in that moment. And it’s just part of racing. I didn’t see the replay properly, but for me, it feels too harsh.”

Ferrari were the biggest losers from this weekend's GP, with both drivers having failed to score points. It remains to be seen how drastically this result will affect their 2023 campaign.