Ferrari requests the right to review Carlos Sainz's penalty at the 2023 F1 Australian GP

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur recently revealed that his team had sent a request to the stewards and the FIA to review Carlos Sainz's penalty once again. The Spaniard had a horrendous race at Albert Park after being penalized for colliding into Fernando Alonso's car in the first lap of the second race restart. Although Sainz wanted to talk to the stewards about the crash, he wasn't allowed to do so and was given a five-second penalty, which threw him out of the points.

Speaking about the penalty, Vasseur revealed that Ferrari are currently in talks with the FIA regarding the penalty. As such, he didn't comment or disclose any details of their discussion. However, he mentioned the crashes involving Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon as well as Logan Sargeant and Nyck de Vries and how they weren't treated the same way as Sainz and Alonso's crash:

"As we are discussing with the FIA, and we sent the report to the FIA, I don't want to disclose any details of this discussion. The only thing is that about Gasly/Ocon, and for sure we had Sargeant/De Vries at Turn 1, and the reaction of the stewards was not the same. But I want to avoid making any comment."

He further added:

"The process is that first they will have a look on our petition to see if they can re-open the case. Then we'll have a second hearing a bit later, with the same stewards or the stewards of the next meeting, about the decision itself. What we can expect is at least to have an open discussion with them, and also for the good of the sport to avoid this kind of decision when you have three cases on the same corner, and not the same decision."

If the FIA retracts the penalty given to Carlos Sainz, he will jump back to fourth place. Other drivers such as Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez, Lando Norris, Nico Hulkenberg, Oscar Piastri, Zhou Guanyu, and Yuki Tsunoda would all drop back a place and lose points.

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Former Ferrari president shattered to see the team's performance in the 2023 F1 season

Luca di Montezemolo, Ferrari's former president, expressed his sorrows while speaking about the team's current form in the sport. He explained how the Scarlet Team has been one of the most important things in his life, which is why he's shattered to see them fail to reach the top spot. Montezemolo told Italian television channel La7 (via soymotor):

“It’s a knife in my wound. Ferrari together with my family is the most important thing in my life. I have been around for 25 years in two periods. It’s painful for me, I’m sorry to see them like this. I don’t think it’s a short-term crisis; it’s a question of rebuilding, and we need to bring together the best technicians”.

Ferrari came close to winning the world title in 2022, but failed to do so due to several strategic mishaps and driver errors. This year, they are miles behind Red Bull and have almost no chance of fighting for the championship.