Carlos Sainz reprimanded

He avoided another penalty, but he won’t get away with it that easily. Carlos Sainz’s Italian weekend is going to be tough. The Spaniard is required to start from the back of the grid tomorrow due to a multitude of engine component changes on his car. He will therefore be condemned to an aggressive race to score as many points as possible and not be overtaken by Lewis Hamilton.

Following the third free practice session, the new Grand Prix winner could have received another penalty. Indeed, he was summoned by the commissioners for driving too slowly during this session. He ultimately received a reprimand, the fourth one this season.

The driver argued that he had to drive below 60km/h during his slow lap in order to cool down his tires. The stewards checked the telemetry of a number of other cars, including his teammate’s (car 16), and noted that the other cars were at least 20 km/h faster than car 55 at turn 1 (which, at one point of the incident, was recorded at 50 km/h), as stated in document 47 of the FIA for the Italian GP.

The Spanish driver could have received a much higher penalty, but it was proven that he had repeatedly checked his mirrors to see if he was not impeding another driver.

If Carlos Sainz were to receive another reprimand by the end of the season, he would be penalized with a 10-place grid penalty.