The final result of the Australian Grand Prix could yet be changed after Ferrari appealed against a five-second penalty given to Carlos Sainz which resulted in his finishing position moving from fourth on track to 12th.
The punishment came after a huge five-car crash in the final few laps which saw Sainz punished for hitting the back wheel of Fernando Alonso amid a hectic restart. The Spaniard was given a five-second penalty and with no racing laps remaining, drivers finished in neutral conditions behind a safety car.
Despite finishing fourth on track, the penalty resulted in Sainz being relegated to 12th and losing 12 points in the driver's championship.
Sainz pleaded with the stewards on his race radio to delay the penalty until he could present his side of the story.
He said: "It's unacceptable. Tell them, it's unacceptable. They need to wait until the race is finished and discuss it with me." Speaking to Spanish media after the race, Sainz took the Jose Mourinho approach and avoided making comment about the decision.
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Sainz seemed to take the harshest punishment from the mayhem after the crash between team-mates Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon resulted in no further action. Similarly the crash between Logan Sargeant and Nyck de Vries which ruled both cars out was not subject to a formal investigation.
A frantic restart at the Australian Grand Prix resulted in five cars crashing (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)But Ferrari have now requested a right to review the five-second penalty in a bid to have Sainz's fourth place finish reinstated. Haas had been unsuccessful in their protest of the result after Nico Hulkenberg avoided the crash carnage to move up to fourth place before the red flags stopped the race.
As cars had not completed the first sector of the lap, the FIA had no reference point to use to decide who was in what position at the time so Hulkenberg was forced to start back in eighth, taking advantage of Sainz's penalty to finish seventh.
And now Ferrari are trying to achieve what Haas failed to in appealing the race result. Team principal Fred Vasseur said that the team had submitted their appeal within the 14-day window and would have a hearing before the next race in Azerbaijan later this month.
Ferrari have launched a protest over Carlos Sainz's five-second penalty (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)He told Autosport: “As we are discussing with the FIA, and we sent the report to the FIA, I don't want to disclose any details of this discussion.
“The only thing is that about Gasly/Ocon, and for sure we had Sargeant/De Vries at Turn 1, and the reaction of the stewards was not the same. But I want to avoid making any comment.
“The process is that first they will have a look on our petition to see if they can re-open the case. Then we'll have a second hearing a bit later, with the same stewards or the stewards of the next meeting, about the decision itself.
Fred Vasseur is looking forward to an open discussion with the FIA about the incident (PA)“What we can expect is at least to have an open discussion with them, and also for the good of the sport to avoid this kind of decision when you have three cases on the same corner, and not the same decision.
“The biggest frustration was from Carlos, and you heard it on the radio, to not have a hearing.
“Because the case was very special, and in this case, I think it would have made sense considering that it was the race was over, it was not affecting the podium, to have a hearing, as Gasly and Ocon had.”
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