Carlos Sainz's seventh grid position has come under protest from rival teams following the Spaniard's red flag incident in Q2.
Sainz brought out the red flag with seven minutes left in Q2, and the Ferrari driver crashed at the final corner, but managed to get back on track and continued as the action subsided.
Carlos Sainz brings out the red flag
Sainz was doing a push lap in the middle of Q2 at the Chinese Grand Prix, but lost the rear of his car at the start of the final corner. However, thanks to his quick thinking while reversing, Sainz was able to limit the impact to the barrier on the opposite side to just a hard hit.
Despite some damage, a red flag was brought out to cover the stoppage and the car was able to start again. With damage to his front wing, he returned to the pits for a checkover and was fitted with a new wing and new tires, qualifying in seventh place.
However, Aston Martin is not happy with the situation and is protesting the qualifying result.
An FIA document confirms the protests, with Aston Martin and Ferrari representatives calling on stewards to call at 6pm local time.
“Required team representatives in connection with the protest lodged by the Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team over an alleged breach of Article 39.6 of the 2024 F1 Sporting Regulations during the qualifying session for the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix must report to the F1 team. “The stewards at 18:00,” the FIA said.
“Other interested parties may also attend this hearing.”
Article 39.6 “A driver whose car stops on the track during a qualifying session or shootout of a sprint qualifying session will not be permitted to take any further part in that session.”
Sainz was able to keep his car moving and return to the track, but race control noted that Sainz had “stopped” on the track after the accident, and a red flag was shown.
The protests have therefore threatened Sainz's seventh place on the grid, and the debate has focused on the definition of a “suspended” driver. Ferrari's position is that Sainz's engine was running, the damage was minimal, and that he needed some time to reset and get back on track, and that the red flag was brought out while he was attempting to recover. That would mean that.
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Carlos Sainz: I managed to crash at the right angle
Sainz took precautions when skating backwards and saved his life while avoiding a hard collision with the barrier, so the Spaniard was very happy to have achieved seventh place in qualifying.
In an interview after the session, Sainz was asked if he found it difficult to control his adrenaline after such an incident.
“It's never easy,” he told Sky F1.
“I had a big moment there. Obviously at the last moment I was able to crash at the right angle.”
Sainz was able to take precautions to avoid catastrophic damage to his Ferrari.
“I steered it a little bit to avoid hitting the rear tire straight on and to be more sideways,” he said.
“This probably saved the day.
“Obviously the heart rate and adrenaline went up from there, but I was able to put together a very strong lap in the second half of Q2 and was able to recover well from that moment.”
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