Why did F1 handle these similar incidents differently? · RaceFans

Disagreement over how the rules of racing are enforced in Formula 1 reached a boiling point at the final race of the 2021 season, prompting the FIA to make many changes for 2022.

One small but important change concerned what should happen if a driver leaves the track and by doing so either passes a rival, gains grounds on them or avoids losing a position to them. At the opening race of the championship in Bahrain, Wittich informed drivers and their teams that the race director would no longer tell them when to give up any positions gained or retained illegally. From then on it would be up to teams or drivers to voluntarily return places achieved by an illegal advantage, or risk receiving a penalty.

But by the end of the year this was no longer than case. During the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton appeared to cut the track to retain a position over Carlos Sainz Jnr on the first lap. Mercedes consulted Race Control and were informed that Hamilton would be penalised if Mercedes did not tell him to yield to Sainz, which they subsequently did.

That appeared to be a completely different approach than had been taken in Mexico after Pierre Gasly was involved in a similar incident with Lance Stroll. Instead, the AlphaTauri driver was hit with a five-second time penalty for failing to return the place to Aston Martin.

Why were these two similar incidents seemingly handled differently, and do other events earlier in the year shed light on the thinking behind those decisions?

Incident 1: Perez vs Sainz – Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Incident: Sainz crosses Safety Car line ahead of Perez but Perez overtakes Sainz anyway
Position returned?: Yes – five laps later
Instructed by race control?: Yes
Penalty issued?: No

Sergio Perez was leading the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix when he pitted from the lead at the end of lap 15. Almost immediately, the race was neutralised by a Safety Car when Nicholas Latifi crashed at the final corner. Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jnr all pitted on the next lap, with Leclerc and Verstappen rejoining ahead of Perez.

As Sainz exited the pit lane he crossed the white Safety Car line centimetres before Perez, but was pushed wide on the exit of turn two and Perez moved ahead into third place. Sainz immediately protested. “He pushed me off, I was ahead,” he said. “The FIA needs to judge this. I think I was ahead at the Safety Car.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner later explained that his team had consulted with the FIA…