Carlos Sainz Jnr, Renault, Paul Ricard, 2018

Renault fined post-race for Sainz pit lane speeding

2018 F1 Season

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After coming away relatively unscathed from their home race, Renault have been issued a fine for Carlos Sainz Jnr speeding in the pit lane during the French Grand Prix.

A reduced speed limit of 60kph was put in place for the race weekend due to concerns about the layout of the Paul Ricard pit lane. Sainz was found to have exceeded it by 5.5kkph when he returned to the pits at the end of the race.

Renault was issued a €600 fine for the offense, with no time penalty against the driver.

Sainz, who ran as high as third place following the chaos during the first three turns of lap one, finished the race in eighth position.

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2018 F1 season

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Hazel Southwell
Hazel is a motorsport and automotive journalist with a particular interest in hybrid systems, electrification, batteries and new fuel technologies....

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11 comments on “Renault fined post-race for Sainz pit lane speeding”

    1. the stewards’ decision is getting more mysterious …..

  1. Only €600 and no time penalty? When it’s a tight corner coming into the pits as well? Interesting… I’d have thought they’d have added a time penalty to his race. Does anyone know if a team’s ever received a fine for a driver speeding in the pits, without the driver receiving a penalty?

    1. @hugh11 AFAIA, no, in a race it’s usually that a driver receives a penalty for speeding in the pit lane while in practice and qualifying sessions it’s the team. but this time it was the other way round for some reason.

    2. @hugh11, I can’t recall any instance of the drivers getting away with speeding in the pit lane during a race either – normally that would have been an instant time penalty for the driver, as has been the case in previous years (usually at least a 5 second time penalty).

      The stewards have offered no explanation either for why they imposed an unusually lenient penalty in this case either – the stewards report just states that they’re imposing that fine. If it had been a five second penalty, as has normally been levied for that offence, it would have moved Hulkenberg ahead of Sainz Jr, but Renault would have still ended up with the same number of points nevertheless – so the only one who would have been punished would have been Sainz, which some might argue should have been the correct response.

    3. @hugh11 Maybe when the speed limiter wasn’t working?

      I think they showed this incident during the race. Wasn’t it when Sainz came with locked wheels sliding over the line? Perhaps the stewards noticed that his speed was fine afterwards, but that he only sped across the line itself.

      Still weird how they keep refusing to simply apply the rules and make stuff more complicated without reason. Speeding is speeding. If he braked to late, it’s still his own fault.

    4. This is really inconsistent.. they at least need to explain why the penalty differs from what other drivers have received for the same infraction otherwise the whole penalty system becomes a joke

    5. The race was over. The overspeed was done when returning back after the race. This is why it is only a cash penalty. It has always been this way.

  2. A €600 fine is something of a joke to be honest if they were going to fine a team for something like that especially when it should have been the Sainz getting the fine.

  3. Apologies for any confusion here, we’ve edited the article to make it clear this fine was for the distinctly unusual offence of speeding in the pit lane after the race. Which I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone booked for before but that’s why it’s not a sporting penalty.

  4. Thanks for clarification. Still a bit of a joke amount of money for a company like Renault though!

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