– Williams driver Carlos Sainz earned them a five-second penalty, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri lost valuable time in the long-distance duel for the lead. We are talking about the scene that took place on Sunday in the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring on lap 38 of 70: the collision between Piastri and Sainz when the McLaren driver wanted to lap the Williams driver.
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Three laps earlier, Piastri, as the race leader, had made his second pit stop. McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who was second behind the Australian from Turn 3 of the first lap until Piastri’s second pit stop – drove a longer second stint and wanted to overtake his teammate with a so-called “overcut”. It was precisely during this phase that the collision between Piastri and Sainz occurred.
The collision happened between Turns 2 and 3. Sainz was driving behind Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin). At the side of the track, the illuminated signals for blue flags (allow to overtake) could be seen flashing.
After Sainz had failed to get past Alonso in the left-hand bend (Turn 2) and had taken a wide line there, he moved normally to the left to approach the following right-hand bend (Turn 3) from the left as usual. This led to contact with Piastri, who in turn wanted to lap Sainz on the left.
“On the steering wheel, we had no blue light indicators. But these normally help us in duels like these to understand whether you are being lapped or not,” reports Sainz and explains: “So at that moment, I had no idea that I was about to be lapped. Furthermore, I was involved in a close duel with Fernando. I hadn’t expected Oscar at all.”
“Even if I had expected him, he was in my blind spot at that point. Therefore, it was simply impossible to avoid from my side,” Sainz defends himself and suggests: “Better communication would probably have helped.”
Piastri pissed off: “It was Carlos’s fault”
Piastri experienced the scene differently. He complained directly over the radio that Sainz had ruined his race. “At that moment, I was just annoyed,” says the McLaren driver after the race. “Annoyed isn’t really the right word. I was absolutely pissed off that I had lost the lead in the race. But that wasn’t the team’s fault. It was Carlos’s fault.”
Race Analysis Hungarian GP
And Piastri goes even further in his criticism of Sainz: “I knew there were blue flags. The display boards everywhere showed the signal for blue flags. I was driving right behind him and simply couldn’t believe what happened. Being hit by a lapped car is certainly not what you expect in a race. But that’s exactly what happened today.”
“I don’t care if he saw me or not. The fact that he obviously didn’t, whether because no one told him or because someone wasn’t paying attention at all, is unacceptable,” fumes Piastri.
Piastri ultimately did not finish the race. However, this was not due to the collision with Sainz exiting Turn 2, but because his McLaren rolled out 17 laps later at exactly the same point on the track with gearbox damage. Sainz, who was handed a five-second penalty by the race stewards for the collision with Piastri, finished P18 with two laps down.
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“To be honest, I feel very sorry for Oscar, but this time, I believe, I have a really good excuse for what happened,” says Sainz, referring to the circumstance he described earlier, that there were no light signals for blue flags visible in the cockpit of his Williams.
Race Stewards Explain Sainz Penalty
Because the race stewards sided with Piastri. In their reasoning for the five-second time penalty against Sainz, it states: “On lap 38, approaching Turn 3, car #55 (Sainz) was in a duel with car #14 (Alonso). The driver of car #55 had been informed by the team that blue flags were being shown due to the approach of car #81 (Piastri; editor’s note). When car #81 attempted an overtake, there was contact between #55 and #81.”
“The Stewards determined that the driver of Car #55 was solely responsible for the collision with Car #81. While the usual penalty for causing a collision is a ten-second penalty, the Stewards found a mitigating circumstance.”
“At the time of the incident, Car #81 was not visible to the driver of Car #55 due to the position of Car #55 relative to the track and other cars prior to the overtaking attempt. Although the driver had been advised that Car #81 was approaching, the Stewards acknowledged that the restricted visibility mitigated the driver’s culpability.”
“Taking this mitigating circumstance into account, the Stewards concluded that a five-second time penalty instead of the usual ten-second penalty was appropriate.”
Sainz and Piastri Insist on Their Points of View
Regardless, Sainz passes the buck to Piastri in his post-race conclusion: “I don’t know if he could have been a bit more careful, after all, he was fighting for the podium and therefore could have positioned himself a bit more cautiously. The five seconds are a shame, but they’re fine. If I’m only fighting for 18th place anyway, I don’t care.”
When asked if he had spoken to Piastri about the collision after the race, Sainz replies: “No, and I don’t need to. It was a racing incident. He will certainly know what happened. And it’s not as if it was my fault that he didn’t finish. It was just a touch and I’m glad he didn’t ruin his race too much.”
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Piastri, however, clearly blames Sainz for the incident. He does not blame his own employer McLaren for the timing of his second pit stop: “I think the timing of my stop was fine. We wanted to cover Hamilton, which is perfectly normal. If I hadn’t been hit [by Sainz], I would have stayed ahead of Lando.”
