FIA penalty decision confirmed for F1 star following Las Vegas GP incident

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FIA penalty decision confirmed following Las Vegas GP incident

One incident at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix left viewers scratching their heads

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Monday 25 November 2024 09:57 Updated: 16:12

A Formula 1 star has been handed a controversial explanation behind an FIA decision following an incident at the Las Vegas Grand Prix that left many scratching their heads.

The race in Sin City saw Mercedes storm back to the top of the grid with a spectacular 1-2 for George Russell and Lewis Hamilton respectively, with celebrations also underway at the Red Bull camp thanks to Max Verstappen claiming his fourth consecutive drivers' title.

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One team who may be holding off on the celebrations for now however appears to be Ferrari, despite Carlos Sainz delivering a podium for the team thanks to his performance at the iconic street track.

The Scuderia's driver duo of Sainz and Charles Leclerc fought hard to bring home as many points for Ferrari with the constructors' championship title still up for grabs. Ultimately though, they were disappointed with their results of P3 and P4, Leclerc having finished in the same position he started the race in.

Leclerc was beside himself over team radio after the chequered flag waved in Vegas, delivering an X-rated rant over horrendous miscommunication between Ferrari and their driver pairing.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both finished ahead of Max Verstappen in Vegas

Charles Leclerc fumed at Ferrari over a miscommunication involving Carlos Sainz at the Las Vegas GP

Kravitz reveals FIA explanation over Sainz decision

Another reason Ferrari will hardly be taking their outing in Vegas as a shining example of team performance is because of their shocking inability to execute a pit stop.

On lap 27, the Scuderia instructed Sainz to swap positions with team-mate Leclerc before heading into the pitlane after practically begging to be called in two laps earlier.

In a confusing demonstration however, Sainz went deep before exiting the pits, despite having already crossed the line on the way into the pits, which is against regulation.

When Sainz asked what happened over team radio, Ferrari admitted they weren’t ready, with the Spaniard exclaiming: “Wake up guys, come on!”

Carlos Sainz was lucky to avoid an FIA penalty in Vegas

The 30-year-old has now avoided a penalty despite Sky F1 pundits stating over the live broadcast that he had broken: "one of the fundamental rules".

Sky's pundit Ted Kravitz later delved into the controversial decision during his popular notebook segment, revealing that Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur had been handed an explanation from the FIA confirming why Sainz was not penalised.

"Sainz didn't get a penalty for crossing the line on the way into the pit lane because I don't know whether the new race director, Rui Marques, who this is his first race, like, didn't know that rule, I'm sure he does.

"But Vasseur explained it as this, that he [Marques] treated it as a track limits infraction, not contravening any rule or race director's note.

"Ok, fine, so that means that that's alright then and Carlos Sainz will say, 'thank you very much', means that he was on the podium and not Charles Leclerc."

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Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

View full biography

Red Bull Max Verstappen Mercedes FIA Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix