Ferrari made the claim five seconds after Sainz stopped for a collision with Fernando Alonso.
The contact between the two Spaniards was one of several incidents at the restart and led to the race’s third red flag.
Sainz was penalized for running a lap behind the safety car to the checkered flag before resuming the race.
Because the field is packed — and opponents know to get as close as possible — he dropped from fourth to 12th in the final order.
Both Sainz and his team principal Fred Wasser were frustrated that the referees had given penalties without listening to the drivers involved, especially when the incident happened so close to the end and did not affect podium positions.
The team initiated a review process to try to revoke the penalty.
Ferrari first had to demonstrate that it could produce a “significant and relevant new element”, which was not available to then-managers until the process continued with the analysis of that evidence.
The FIA noted on Friday: “The stewards of the 2023 Australian Grand Prix have received a letter from FIA director of single-seater Nicolas Tombazzis, with a statement from rival Ferrari according to the FIA International Sports Act. Article 14 Petition code filed on 6th April 2023 (“Petition”) seeking a review of Decision No. 46 taken by the Governing Council within the framework of the 2023 Australian Grand Prix and requesting the Governing Council to consider this class request and determine whether there is a significant and relevant new element (Article 14.3 of the code) relevant to the decision/incident.’”
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
Photography: Ferrari
“Riders and team representatives must report to the stewards for a virtual hearing on the petition at 0800 CET on April 18, 2023,” it added.
Allow other teams interested in the results to participate in the process.
Drivers behind him if Sainz returns to fourth – Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez, Lando Norris, Nico Hulkenberg, Oscar Piastri, Zhou Guanyu and Kakuda Yuki – all will drop one place and lose points.
“The process is, first, they look at our petition to see if they can reopen the case,” Vasseur said last week.
“Then we will have a second hearing at a later date, either by the same managers or the managers at the next meeting will decide to have a hearing themselves.
“What we can look forward to is at least having an open discussion with them and, for the good of the sport, avoiding that decision when you have three cases in the same corner and not one decision.
“The biggest setback came from Carlos, you heard it on the radio, there was no hearing.
“Because this case is very specific, and in the circumstances, I think it makes sense to have a hearing like Gasly and Ocon did, given that the race is over and it doesn’t affect the podium.”
Nyck de Vries has performed much better in Monaco than at previous Grands Prix this season. The Dutch seem to have brought this form to the Spanish country. Around Barcelona, the AlphaTauri drivers had a great time. He started the race in 14th place. In a press conference with GPblog and others, De Vries looked to the future.
Nyck de Vries has performed much better in Monaco than at previous Grands Prix this season. The Dutch seem to have brought this form to the Spanish country. Around Barcelona, the AlphaTauri drivers had a great time. He started the race in 14th place. In a press conference with GPblog and others, De Vries looked to the future.
The Spaniard managed to make the most of improvements to the SF-23 in Barcelona as he became Max Verstappen’s closest challenger to pole.
But while performances at such a circuit where the air is so crucial bodes well for the progress Ferrari has made, Sainz believes the nature of the Barcelona circuit is not actually performing to its best potential.
He believes the high-speed nature of the venue is not particularly suitable for Ferrari, so future venues will have clearer evidence of progress.
“The new kit is mainly about improving low-to-mid speed, and in that area we really feel like a step in the right direction,” he said.
“As I said before the weekend, it’s a step in a different direction. It’s not so much a big upgrade or a big change in our performance as it opens up a different operating range window for the car.
“That’s the main goal of this upgrade, not suddenly half a second faster. I think it’s doing the job, and it’s working well.
“We also want to make the car more predictable, easier to drive, and easier to do laps. Hopefully it will go in that direction, but unfortunately we’ve gone down a route that doesn’t work for us.
“We’ve been really bad at high speed since the start of the season. Since Australia we’ve been struggling with balance and bounce and a lot of things that happen to us at high speed.
“So, we’re just going to focus on that now and see if we can improve it because, as you can see, the low speeds aren’t actually bad at all for us.”
Top three in qualifying Lando Norris, McLaren, pole position Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
Sainz believes the fact that he put Ferrari on the front row, while team-mate Charles Leclerc ended up being eliminated in Q1, is further indication of one of his team’s biggest weaknesses – its very narrow operating window, which is It’s all too easy to suddenly lose competitiveness.
“I don’t know exactly what happened to Charles, but it’s been the same story all year,” he said.
“It felt like it was a very narrow window for us; a very narrow car window; and a very tricky car.
“Once the situation gets tricky, it goes in one direction or the other and you’re fighting with a very different balance. It was a good line for me today.
“It turned out not bad, but it was tough because now it looks like the midfield is really starting to get close to us. You have guys like Alpine and even Haas, Lando (Norris) and McLaren showing up. Yes, they join us in the race for second or third place.
“Obviously Red Bull are in a league of their own, but everyone else, it looks really, really nervous.”