Carlos Sainz Jnr’s late decision to abandon his entry into the pits on lap 27 appeared to put him in breach of the rules.
Lewis Hamilton, who was following close behind, immediately alerted his team: “Sainz came into the pit lane but then he cut over.” However F1’s regulations indicate Sainz did not commit a breach.
Sainz was running in fourth place behind Max Verstappen and ahead of Hamilton when Ferrari called him in to pit.
However, when Sainz committed to the pit entry, there was confusion at Ferrari which led to him being told to stay out. Sainz cut over the painted line separating the pit entry from the race track and rounded the final corner to continue without pitting.
After asking Ferrari “what happened”, race engineer Ricardo Adami admitted his team were “not ready” to receive him for a pit stop. An unimpressed Sainz told his team: “Wake up, guys. Come on.”
Sainz successfully completed his pit stop at the end of lap 28 and went on to claim the final place on the podium behind the two Mercedes drivers.
Some were surprised the incident was not noted by F1’s new race director Rui Marques. Penalties have been given for similar incidents at other circuits. F1’s regulations indicate why Sainz was in the clear.
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The FIA’s rules over pit entry are governed by their International Sporting Code, Appendix L, Chapter 4, Article 4 (d). This states that “except in cases of force majeure… any part of a tyre of a car entering the pit lane must not cross, in any direction, any line painted on the track for the purpose of separating cars entering the pit lane from those on the track.”
While Sainz’s tyres clearly crossed the dividing line between the pit entry and the race track, Sainz did not commit a breach as he never entered the pit lane. Had Sainz crossed the dividing line and still entered the pit lane to complete his pit stop, that would likely have resulted in a penalty.
Occasionally, the race director will add an extra instruction to the event notes that compels all drivers who have all four wheels to the left of the pit entry line to have to enter the pit lane and will commit a breach if they then cross it again to remain on track. This year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku included such an instruction, but there was no such enforcement in the event notes for this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Sainz’s podium finish helped Ferrari to score 27 points in…
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