Carlos Sainz details bizarre issue behind double Mexican GP penalty

Carlos Sainz has revealed damage on the opening lap of the Mexico City Grand Prix resulted in two penalties for speeding in the pit lane.

The Williams driver started the race from 12th on the grid but made contact with Liam Lawson at the first corner, resulting in damage.

His day went from bad to worse when he made his first pit stop, as he sped in the pit lane by 0.2 km/h - resulting in a five-second time penalty.

He was guilty of the same offence during his second stop, this time exceeding the speed limit by 9.8 km/h. As it was a second offence, he was issued a drive-through penalty.

Sainz detailed he could do little to avoid speeding as the sensors that keep his car to a designated speed in the pits were damaged on the first lap.

“A race full of issues, compromised probably by the contact at the start,” Sainz reflected to media including RacingNews365.

“I think we were three or four into [Turn] 1 and there was a big melee. We were three or four cars side by side, like always in Mexico, a tricky one.

“I think I damaged my rim, which damaged my first set of tyres, my rim sensor, my speed sensors of the tyre and my pit limiter wasn’t working.

“From there on, even if we got a five-second penalty at the first pitstop, we were still in the hunt for points.

“But then we had to do a second pitstop. We had the issue again of the pit limiter and we basically had a very difficult day.”

Sainz retired from the race late on but was still classified as he completed 90 per cent of the grand prix distance.

The Spaniard asserted that a positive result was likely for Williams without the dramatic pit lane issue.

“A shame because I was really quick and even if I had a compromised strategy, compromised tyres, compromised car, we were quick, but too many issues,” he said.