Before the start of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, many noticed that some of the less-than-new cars in which Formula 1 drivers were driven around the track during the Drivers Parade leaked some oil onto the asphalt of the start-finish line.
A whole team of marshals quickly tried to eliminate the oil stains, but Carlos Sainz believes that it was the consequences of this incident that led to numerous accidents in the first turn.
The Spanish Ferrari driver showed the 2nd fastest time in qualifying, but lost 10 starting positions, receiving a penalty, which is why he started the race from the 6th row and unwittingly became one of the participants in the incidents in the 1st turn.
Of course, Carlos considered the fine unfair, since it was not his fault that Ferrari No. 55 received such serious damage at the beginning of the first practice, having caught a faulty element of the track drainage system, that the team actually had to assemble a new car for the Spaniard. The battery was also replaced – this is the third energy storage device, despite the fact that each racer receives two such elements for the season. Each subsequent substitution inevitably entails a fine, and the regulations do not provide for any exceptions.
In general, Sainz’s mood was spoiled on the first day of the weekend, and the events of the beginning of the race clearly did not help to improve it.
No matter how hard the technical services of the track tried to remove the consequences of an oil leak on the left side of the start-finish straight, they were unable to completely clean the asphalt.
“I saw on the track a lot of oil leaking from the cars that were used during the pilot parade, and this is another problem that the FIA should pay attention to,” Carlos commented after finishing the Grand Prix, in which he took 6th place. – I think this is not fair. All the oil was on the internal path.
Not only was the asphalt there already dirty, but we also parked cars there, from which oil leaked onto the track an hour before the start. I emphasize that this is unacceptable. This is probably why a lot of accidents happened in the first turn.”
Sainz started on the left side of the field and was one of several drivers who did not escape these troubles. His Ferrari was carried to the outside of the track, where it hit Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, in front of which Fernando Alonso spun. In turn, Valtteri Bottas’ Alfa Romeo crashed into Aston Martin, which Sergio Perez “caught up” from behind, breaking the diffuser on the Finn’s car and damaging his own front wing.
“I just braked, but there was a lot of dust on the tires from the oil removal products, and there was simply no grip,” Carlos continued. – Fernando also spun – you understand, even drivers with his experience failed to achieve grip on the track. In general, everyone turned out to be victims of an unfortunate combination of circumstances, but at the same time, you never expect that everything will be so bad.
I just pressed the brakes without even hitting the pedal, but the tires locked. I can’t even say that I braked late – I was around the 100-meter mark, but at the same time I was approaching the corner 100 km/h slower than on the qualifying lap.
I agree, cold tires probably also played a role. The incident on the first lap was absolutely shocking and I think everyone had problems there.”
Sainz fell back to 18th position, but was able to fight back and finish seventh, and moved up one place in the final race report thanks to a penalty received by George Russell.
“The race did not promise to be easy; it was not easy to win back. But since we managed to break through the entire peloton from almost the last positions and take 6th place, the day can be considered quite good,” concluded Carlos.
Before the season finale, he shares 4th place in the individual standings with Fernando Alonso, both have 200 points, but Sainz is formally ahead, since he has a victory in Singapore.
2023-11-20 09:56:00
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