Carlos Sainz received only a five-second penalty for the incident with Oscar Piastri at the Formula 1 Hungarian GP, and the FIA stewards explained the reason for the decision. According to the official report, there was a mitigating factor that led to the reduction of the standard penalty.
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The contact happened on lap 38, when Piastri, who was fighting for the race lead, was trying to lap the Williams driver. Despite considering Sainz fully responsible for the collision, the stewards understood that the Spaniard’s limited visibility directly influenced the incident.
According to the official report, Sainz was involved in a battle with Fernando Alonso approaching Turn 3 when he received information from the team that blue flags were being displayed due to Piastri’s approaching car. Still, contact occurred when the Australian began the overtake.
The document released by the stewards highlights that, in the position the cars were in at the time of the incident, Piastri’s McLaren was not visible in Sainz’s rearview mirrors: “Although the driver was informed that car 81 was approaching, the stewards accepted that limited visibility reduced the degree of responsibility,” a passage from the decision states.
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Normally, causing a collision results in a ten-second penalty. However, race control considered that the circumstances justified a lesser sanction: “Taking this mitigating circumstance into account, the stewards determined that a five-second penalty, instead of the standard ten-second penalty, was appropriate,” the statement concluded.
Piastri managed to continue the race without apparent damage after the contact, although the incident contributed to him losing the lead to Lando Norris. Later, the Australian retired from the race due to a mechanical problem. Sainz finished only in 18th position, two laps behind race winner Lando Norris.
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