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F1 fans were infuriated after it was revealed that Carlos Sainz will be given a 10-place grid penalty for changing key components of his car after his "manhole" incident at the Las Vegas GP.
The Ferrari driver's FP1 session was brought to a premature end after he ran over a drain cover on the Las Vegas Strip which shattered his underbody floor and the power unit. The incident brought the session to an end after just nine minutes of running.
However, F1 fans were left in disbelief after the Las Vegas GP stewards announced that Carlos Sainz would be given a 10-place grid drop for the race. In their statement as per F1.com, the stewards said:
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“The stewards determined that notwithstanding the fact that the damage was caused by highly unusual external circumstances, Article 2.1 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulation obliges all officials, including the Stewards, to apply the regulations as they are written."
“Accordingly, the mandatory penalty specified under Article 28.3 of the Sporting Regulations must be applied. The stewards note that if they had the authority to grant a derogation in what they consider in this case to be mitigating, unusual and unfortunate circumstances, they would have done so, however the regulations do not allow such action.”
F1 fans took to social media to give their reactions, with one fan claiming that the Las Vegas GP weekend was turning into a "complete joke," saying:
"This weekend is turning this sport into a complete joke."
Here are some more reactions:
Carlos Sainz gives his take on the 10-place grid penalty for the Las Vegas GP
The Ferrari driver stated that he was in "disbelief" over the stewards's decision to penalize him for changing the damaged parts on his car as the situation was out of his control.
Speaking with Sky Sports, Carlos Sainz said:
"Unfortunately, as the session finished, the team communicated to me that I was taking a 10-place grid penalty for something that I had no fault, and the team had no fault."
"That changed completely my mindset and my opinion on the weekend and how it's going to go from now on. I'm disappointed and in disbelief with the situation. You will not see me very happy this weekend."
Carlos Sainz would look to qualify as high as possible to minimize the damage caused by the penalty and make his way through the grid to get some good points from the weekend.
