Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz will start on pole for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza after the stewards cleared both him and Charles Leclerc of driving unnecessary slowly during Safety Car line 2 and Safety Car line 1 during Q1 this afternoon.
Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari
After the conclusion of Q1, the following messages were shown from race control.
RACE CONTROL – 15:20
INCIDENT INVOLVING CARS 16 (LEC) AND
55 (SAI) NOTED – FAILING TO FOLLOW
RACE DIRECTORS INSTRUCTIONS – MAXIMUM LAP TIME
RACE CONTROL – 15:21
FIA STEWARDS: INCIDENT INVOLVING
CARS 16 (LEC) AND 55 (SAI) WILL BE
INVESTIGATED AFTER THE SESSION – FAILING TO FOLLOW RACE DIRECTORS INSTRUCTIONS – MAXIMUM LAP TIME
Despite saying they’ll investigate it after the session, an announcement that they avoided any penalties moments after Sainz took pole in Q3.
Onboard footage from Sainz’s car on his slow lap that took 1:43s (maximum time set by the race director was 1:41) from Safety Car line 2 to Safety Car line 1 showed the Spaniard getting out of the way of multiple cars and was behind a Williams.
Out of the Ascari chicane, the Spaniard slowed down to create a gap to the Williams.
Below you can find the full reasoning as to why both Sainz and Leclerc keep their P1 and P3 grid spots.
The official decision of the stewards
“The Stewards thoroughly reviewed Marshalling/ Positioning data, timing data, on-board cameras and CCTV cameras.
“Both drivers stayed at or above speeds necessary to stay below 1:41.0 around the
vast majority of the circuit and especially on the straights. However, in both cases
the Stewards determined that the drivers took appropriate actions to slow and stay
to the side to the track so as to not impede other drivers, and in both cases they did
this significantly to allow four drivers to pass while giving those drivers a clear track.
“The Stewards therefore determine that they did not drive ‘unnecessarily slowly’,
and that evidently the reason they were both slightly above the maximum time was
due to their appropriate actions and take no further action.”
