17 November 2023 , 12:59
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Karun Chandhok and Jenson Button agreed that the decision to hand Carlos Sainz a grid penalty for the Las Vegas Grand Prix was "ridiculous".
The Spaniard suffered damage to his Ferrari when a manhole cover on the track came loose while he was driving over it. And Esteban Ocon was the other unlucky racer to pick up damage from the object.
But it was Sainz who really came off worst. A huge plume of sparks flew into the air when he hit the cover and it was later revealed that damage had been done to the survival cell, the engine, the battery and the control electronics, requiring all those components to be replaced.
Ferrari pleaded with the stewards to make an exception to the rule which mandated that a new energy store for Sainz, which took him over his seasonal allowance, came with a grid penalty. And the stewards did try their best to find a way around it.
But, in the end, they came to the conclusion that there is nothing in the regulations which allowed them to avoid giving out that grid drop. So, wherever Sainz qualifies, he will start the race 10 places below that grid slot.
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The fairness of the verdict was discussed on Sky Sports while they waited for the delayed second practice session to get under way. And there was consensus among pundits that it was a deeply unfair end result for the Spaniard.
Button, the 2009 F1 world champion, said: "The thing I don't get, I know it's a regulation, but can the teams not agree that they should get a pass?" And fellow pundit Chandhok was in complete agreement.
He replied: "I agree. It's ridiculous. I can't think of any precedence where a circuit issue has caused a chassis change, during the practice phase of a weekend. I don't think there has been precedent. So I agree with Jenson, that there could have been a dispensation signed by all the other teams."
Button asserted that Ferrari's rivals would have allowed it. "And they would have. They would have signed it," he claimed. And Chandhok added: "Yes, in this context, I think it would have been the fair thing to do."
Whether or not that would have been true for all the teams is not known, but McLaren chief Zak Brown said he would have been fine with it. He told Sky: "We need to be more sporting, if something like that happens. We would have supported them not getting a penalty."