No further action has been taken regarding Carlos Sainz-Lance Walk incident from Q1 of qualifying this evening.
Conditions during qualifying were quite poor, with rain creating a wet track and cool temperatures making it difficult to fit the tires. Visibility was lower, with drivers saying it was difficult to see the typical painted lines we see every day on normal roads, like pedestrian crossings and road markings. Painted lines, whether a street track like Las Vegas or a traditional circuit, become more slippery in the wet.
Fairly early in Q1, Sainz headed straight for one of the runoff zones, having to turn around to get back on track. The Williams driver said: “I knew I was generating a yellow flag at that point, and I was just trying to stop the yellow flag as soon as possible and get back on the track. »
The Spaniard was aware that Stroll was coming up behind him on the track, and Sainz said: “I tried to catch up to him as safely as possible.” He added that he did not want the yellow flag to impact more drivers, given the messy conditions and the possibility of red flags.
“But I think we were all improving,” Sainz continued. “We were all trying to get the tires up to temperature, and we were all making mistakes. It was early in Q1 when I think some people were still on the inters and struggling to keep it on track and that was me. The visibility was also extremely poor.
Both drivers crashed out of Q1, although Stroll was eliminated in the following session. Sainz qualified third and had to wait a little longer to find out if he would retain his position for tomorrow evening’s starting grid. Stewards summoned Sainz, Stroll and representatives of the Aston Martin and Williams teams, with the alleged offense being that the Spaniard rejoined the track in a dangerous manner.
According to the decision document, a representative of the Aston Martin team “stated that the return of car 55 did not cause any problems for the driver of car 18 and stated that its driver did not consider the maneuver to be dangerous on the part of the driver of car 55.” The stewards took this into account, along with the yellow flags and poor visibility, and determined that no further action was necessary.
