Carlos Sainz Jnr was one of many drivers who were perplexed by the Safety Car un-lapping procedure towards the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver said race control’s decision to only allow five of the eight lapped cars to regain the lead lap put his third place in jeopardy from cars behind. He crossed the line with the AlphaTauris of Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly within one-and-a-half seconds of him.Sainz moved into a podium position after Red Bull retired Sergio Perez with three laps to go, during the Safety Car period that ended on the penultimate lap.
Shortly before racing resumed, race control told the lapped drivers between leader Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to overtake the safety car. However those between Verstappen and Sainz – McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll – had to stay in formation.
That meant Sainz restarted the race with two lapped cars ahead of him and Valtteri Bottas filling his mirrors.
“It was certainly a very strange situation for me because I was battling for a podium with Valtteri and some AlphaTauris behind with a medium tyre while I was on a very used hard,” said Sainz.
“This, I’ve never had it before, having to restart the race with these two guys in front of me while fighting for P3.”
One of the two drivers ahead of Sainz quickly got out of his way. Blue flags were waved at the start of the second sector, after the two cars ahead had created a small gap to Sainz, and so Stroll slowed significantly to allow Sainz and then the chasing Bottas and AlphaTauri drivers through.
Ricciardo, meanwhile, pursued the two leaders, crossing the line 1.3 seconds after Lewis Hamilton to finish 12th, one lap down. Over a minute later, the drivers he had earlier been contending with for a points finish took the chequered flag, having been allowed to un-lap themselves the lap previously.
“I do believe it was a strange one, and maybe something to look at because it was just very strange to see and it nearly cost me my podium, to be honest,” concluded Sainz.
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Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
13th December 2021, 10:37
But how? It’s not like his pursuers wouldn’t have been behind him either way.
Sham (@sham)
13th December 2021, 10:48
He wouldn’t have had 2 slower cars in his way.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
13th December 2021, 11:29
Are you referring to the slower car that got out of the way or the slower car that wasn’t actually slower at all?
ChrisVB
13th December 2021, 12:15
The lapped cars in front of him might have given Bottas an opportunity to overtake Sainz.
erikje
14th December 2021, 11:38
But Bottas was not faster and even passed by the two AT’s.
All in all a strange story. Mostly stress probably about the chance to miss the podium he was gifted by the retiring Perez.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
13th December 2021, 13:17
I dunno. Maybe Sainz felt like he had a chance getting involved a race win.
I know that’s a bit silly – I mean what racer in 3rd on a restart with one lap to go, would fancy their chances (rolling eyes!!)
Let’s say Hamilton and Verstappen tangle for 1 second or slowdown to avoid each other for 1 second, then suddenly Sainz would have been in with a chance of victory.
Masi’s decision to only care about the top two, scuppered that admittedly unlikely scenario.
It just adds to the sheer incompetence and unfairness.
And note I’m a Lewis fan, who actually isn’t particularly bothered about him losing now, because everyone saw who dominated that race as he as the last three. Add on that the stewards have now, at last decided. that Max’s lunges (or anyone’s) or no longer allowed and that’s going to make a big difference to next season. So I’m far more optimistic about Lewis beating him in the future than I was before Brazil.
However, yesterday’s farce that has even none F1 fans laughing – is no laughing matter for us F1 fans.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
13th December 2021, 15:41
Carlos appeared concerned about losing a podium, i.e. placing worse than the 3rd he was running on track and ended up finishing, not about not finishing higher on it.
Oople
13th December 2021, 10:47
Would have been one hell of an end had Yuki got a podium!
Though Carlos thoroughly deserved it.
Jere (@jerejj)
13th December 2021, 10:52
Only further demonstrates WDC bias.
erikje
14th December 2021, 11:41
But is not really factual.
He was unable to follow the faster ricciardo and Stroll let him by without delay.
Bottas was slower ( and passed by the two AT’s)
So a nice story and it fits the narrative “masi made a mistake” but has no merit whatsoever.
@jerejj
JackySteeg (@jackysteeg)
13th December 2021, 11:07
I don’t fully understand why he was even on the podium in the first place; more to the point I don’t understand Red Bull’s decision to retire Checo. Has anything been said about what the problem was and why was it severe enough that it wasn’t worth running the last 3 laps of the season?
Warheart (@warheart)
13th December 2021, 11:10
@jackysteeg I’m 99.9% sure Red Bull were seeing signs that pointed to a potential issue in Checo’s car. That would mean extending the SC if his car broke in the middle of the track and would definitely give the race to Hamilton. It didn’t even have to be too severe, it just wasn’t worth the risk.
Oople
13th December 2021, 11:39
I think on Ted’s Notebook it was something along the lines of a dual problem: hydraulic and something else?
He also mentioned a conspiracy that they underfuelled him so that he’d be faster in holding up Lewis.
Don’t believe it, but also wouldn’t be too surprised if it were true 😛
mystic one (@mysticus)
13th December 2021, 12:09
I m 99% sure red bull planned something sinister
In any of the sc periods, if ham pits ahead of max, max stays out, then they create a fake situation park the car somewhere unsafe and vsc sc or red flag the race so max doesn’t loose ground or gain advantage. Under fueling is the most likely situation and they could easily say there was a leak of some sorts and they wouldn’t be able to supply enough sample. Perez didn’t seem to understood why he was retired.
Massia and FIA also has no ground to stand on. They wanted only two guys race in one being extremely unfairly treated. No legal race procedures followed. If they want race to finish not under sc, then should have thought about red flag the moment the incident happened. Not before the last corner and not half ased rules that only benefited one driver and one driver only. Why not other lapped cars to be given the same advantage?
Ham’s win was stolen under Broad Night Lights of the circus called F1. I m not expecting maFIA to change their decision as the previous cases any indication.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
13th December 2021, 12:58
@mysticus if they did that, then I feel terrible for Perez. He’s essentially a legendary road obstacle.
erikje
14th December 2021, 11:42
i would not expect less from you ;)
grapmg (@)
13th December 2021, 12:21
Thanks for the info was also confused about Perez. It makes sense that they didn’t want to risk an other delay on the saftey car. Also crossed my mind that they underfuelled him but he almost made it to the end so that doesn’t make sense and I don’t think it is illegal if they did.
FerrariBias
13th December 2021, 11:15
They had already lost the constructor’s championship, so they didn’t lose anything. But if they thought that checo’s car had a problem that might cause him to break down on the last lap and bring out another sc or vsc they were right not to risk it
Boudi
13th December 2021, 11:37
it was mentioned during the race that his PU was losing pressure so they had to retire, they had no chance of keeping him running.
hyoko
13th December 2021, 11:47
3 laps worth of fuel would hardly make a significant difference for the task of holding up the opposition I reckon
erikje
14th December 2021, 11:43
But fuels the storys by lewis fans..
JAK
13th December 2021, 21:09
Could Red Bull have been avoiding scrutineering?
BasCB (@bascb)
13th December 2021, 11:10
It certainly was a strange thing to see happen. Btw, did Red Bull actually tell the world what was the reason for retiring Perez?
nordmann (@nordmann)
13th December 2021, 13:08
It also meant that Verstappen didn’t even have to check his mirrors when going after Lewis as Sainz was barred from attacking him. All the implications of Masi’s decision are just horrendous.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
13th December 2021, 13:19
@nordmann yeah, and Mercedes can use this argument to prove that the FIA was meddling with the championship especially since Masi had originally decided not to unlap the cars, then Horner asked him to remove them and said all we need [to win] is 1 lap. Masi obliged.
I can’t see this not being decided to be illegal. I’m just curious about how they’ll fix it. Will they reverse the championship? If they don’t, I can’t imagine the damages to Lewis and Mercedes.
There’s also talk of foul play with Perez which could potentially blow up Red Bull as a team and destroy Perez and Horner’s career for life. Red Bull was just too eager to win this and I feel they would have crossed any line to beat Mercedes. I wouldn’t be surprised if Max’s driving, as dirty and illegal as it was, was the cleanest thing.
This has the potential to destroy F1 and unfortunately it cannot be swept under the carpet as we all witnessed it. They have to fix this and also prevent this from ever happening again.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
13th December 2021, 13:49
Yep! The more you think it through the more ‘bent’ it seems, but in no way was that Masi’s intention.
Unfortunately, that’s how it looked. There was absolutely no logical reason for his decision. Races have ended on a safety car lap.
mystic one (@mysticus)
14th December 2021, 0:20
@banbrorace
“Races have ended on a safety car lap.” i chuckled when i remember spa race! race started with sc, and ended with sc with zero official laps conducted and max again was deemed the winner obviously… SC my back side really… Let Them Race? pfftt… they changed the meaning of ANY/ALL to (not all, just the right amount that benefits us) and the THEM actually means THEMax,
erikje
14th December 2021, 11:45
well “the best” at least ;)
Ciaran (@ciaran)
13th December 2021, 14:09
Delighted that Sainz held onto his podium spot, keeping up his 100% record of getting podiums when nobody notices! He’s been low-key excellent this year, getting to grips with the Ferrari much quicker than any other driver who changed team.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
13th December 2021, 14:16
The “new rule” allowed the race director to create a race between 1 and 2 and to not allow a race between 1, 2, and 3. There was no legitimate reason to not unlap the 2 cars between 2 and 3. I think they were afraid Saint would catch Hamilton and take 2nd this pricing how much of a sham the decision was.