Former F1 driver questions compatriot Carlos Sainz Jr. getting penalised at the F1 Miami GP

Former F1 driver Roberto Merhi recently questioned the Miami GP race stewards after they gave Carlos Sainz a penalty for a move on Oscar Piastri.

During the latter stages of the race, both Sainz and Piastri were in an intense tussle to claim fourth place. On lap 34, Sainz chased the McLaren driver down and tried to overtake him into a corner. However, Piastri braked late, shut the door, and pushed the Ferrari driver off track. Sainz angrily complained about the aggressive defense on the team radio.

The battle continued till lap 39, where Sainz successfully overtook the Australian and secured fourth place. However, the move was not clean, as the Ferrari's rear slipped a little and bumped into Piastri's car. The collision damaged McLaren's front wing, which had to be changed. Due to a late pitstop, Piastri lost a lot of positions and ended up in P13.

After the race, both drivers were called by the stewards, and Sainz was given a five-second time penalty for losing control of his car while overtaking Piastri. This resulted in him being demoted from P4 to P5.

Addressing both incidents, Roberto Merhi wrote on his official X account that he did not understand the decisions made by the Miami GP stewards. He questioned why Carlos Sainz was penalized for the overtake and why Oscar Piastri was not for his aggressive defense.

"I must say I don’t understand at all the decisions from the Stewards in Miami. They penalized Carlos for making a fantastic overtaking under the breaking. You are supposed to overtake only on the straight on DRS? And then they didn’t penalize Oscar when [he] left him [Sainz] without room," Merhi said.

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"Frustrated" - Carlos Sainz talks about his tight battle with Oscar Piastri in the 2024 F1 Miami GP

Carlos Sainz explained his point of view while racing against Oscar Piastri for fourth place in the 2024 F1 Miami GP.

Speaking to F1.com after the race but before the penalty, Sainz explained how he was frustrated with a lot of what happened in the race. This included his inability to overtake the McLaren driver for quite some time. He stated that he went aggressive on the move and found a good pace after it.

"Frustrated with Oscar because he obviously run us off the track and we had contact. I had to be aggressive to overtake because for some reason we were struggling to overtake. I send it on the inside of turn 17, and from there we had good pace," Sainz said.

After the Miami GP, Carlos Sainz is in fifth place in the 2024 F1 drivers' championship table with 83 points. He was overtaken on the leaderboard by Lando Norris, who won his first race in Formula 1 on Sunday.